Redemption
by ScottyBgood
Summary: Seven years after Jade pulled a prank that ended her friendship with the main people of Hollywood Arts, and six years after Tori discovered that her own past has consequences, Andre seeks them out to find out why they're living together. After all, wasn't Jade the cause of Tori's woes? Jori. Shifting, thought the first few chapters will be around Jade. But what price redemption?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own victorious, or any of it's characters. I just continue to occasionally find uses for them. Of course, the only reward I get for this is reviews. (Hint, hint)

Trigger warning, mentions rape, self harm, and some other less then fun stuff. you've been warned.

Also, the first three chapters fill in a lot of the background. Lots of flashbacks, as shown in _italics._

:}

Jade looked out the door, trying to stay focused. Part of her regretted opening the door, one of her few unchallenged fears eating at her heart, but another part just needed to know… Andre was standing there, on the other side of the door, and he was looking for Tori.

Jade had known that the two of them had been in contact, mostly on line, but up until that moment, she had managed to stay out of their growing reacquaintance, and for good reasons. It was one thing to suspect you were hated, quite another to know for certain.

Ever since senior year, when Jade and that group of friends parted ways, she really hadn't been in contact with any of them. 'I admit, after what I did, it was my fault. But still, I could have died, and not one of them would have cared.' She took a deep breath, centering herself, bringing all her willpower to the task of speaking, and asked "Can I help you?"

"Is Tori in?" He looked nervous. She always did intimidate him. Despite that, she knew, back before she messed things up, he had been her friend.

"She's out right now." Jade said, trying to act casual. "Spa day with Trina."

"Oh..." He murmured, seeming to get lost in thought for a second. She could see the way he shifted, he was struggling, trying to figure out how to say whatever it was he needed to say.

'Bet he wants me to tell Tori he dropped by, have her call him.' Jade thought, her body tensing up with rage. However, she was aware that her rage, her anger, just wasn't warranted. She knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the old gang wouldn't have abandoned Tori so easily, not if there there weren't a really good reason. And she knew their reasons, knew those were good reasons, one overwhelmingly good reason, and so she knew why they'd abandoned Tori. Leaving Tori to whatever fate was heading towards her, and leaving Jade, of all people, to find her and pick up the pieces. 'Not that I was looking for her. I mean, logically, practically, I should have been the last person on earth Tori would trust to help her. Practically was. But the thing is, they left her, and I wound up being the rock she leaned upon, even if it did hurt, a lot.' The old gangs reasons may vary, but each and every one of them had backed off, stayed away when Tori needed them the most. Jade needed to speak, just to force her mind away from darker thoughts. "So?"

"I was just checking in, seeing how you guys were doing." Dre said, trying to sound nonchalant while not meeting her eyes.

'I'm alive, fuck you very much.' Jade thought, but held her tongue, trying to keep her rage, her growing guilt, from infecting this interaction. Instead, she tried, really tried, to say something neutral. "Don't lie to me." Came out instead, a sharp, harsh sound. "I know you could care less about me. You just wanna make sure I haven't skinned miss perfect alive."

"It's not..." He started, but this was Andre, the boy who prided himself on always doing whats right. "Okay, yea, sure. I came by to make sure you haven't hurt her. She'd been going through a rough time when you found her, and I wanted to be sure you weren't using her."

It hurt, cutting her to the core, that this person, the one guy at Hollywood Arts she called a friend without conditions, basically admitting he was only checking in on Tori. Worse, that he couldn't have cared less about her. Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to push forward, but Jade West didn't let people see her cry. "A little late, don't you think?" She hissed. "We've been together for almost two years. You've let her slide for what, seven?"

It was unfair, accusing him of that. Yes, Tori had been hurt by what she'd done, but that was hardly why they left her to her fate. A year out of school, Tori ran into Steven Carson's family, and it turned out his father had a lot of connections in the entertainment business. And yes, Mister Carson did hold a grudge, enough of one to get her blackballed, once he knew where she was trying to go in life. Then, her friends had to distance themselves, so they could work, get jobs in the industry. The idea, in theory, what that later, once they were established and beyond reproach, maybe they could help her out. And while that was happening, Tori tried to focus on school, collage, getting an education. Pity she had more then just the Carson's to deal with.

"I've never stopped looking out for her." Andre snapped back. "I was there for her, doing what I could. But she asked us, begged us to distance ourselves, make careers for ourselves, so we could undo the blackballing."

Tori hadn't done so well, once entertainment was no longer an option. Her dream was shattered, and while she struggled to rebuild her life, her family dynamics only made it worse. Her parents divorced, further disrupting her once ideal seeming world. Then, while she was reeling from that betrayal, her mother running off with her fathers ex partner, Gary, her dad got shot in the line of duty. He lived, but was placed behind a desk, even as the expenses from the divorce piled up. A Her mothers new relationship soured quickly after David was shot, cause Gary blamed himself for David going into a bad situation without backup. 'Funny, it was Gary who came back, begging for forgiveness. Holly, she took her half, and was in the wind.' Jade thought. 'But that left Tori broke, in need of a safe place, and running from her own family, just to be able to breath. No collage for Tori.' Jade refocused on the conversation in front of her.

"Yea, I get that." Jade sighed. "I'll let her know you were here." Jade's mind was somewhere else, thinking about Tori, back when she found the girl.

Jade remembered what Tori had told her, how she'd been broken, hurting. It was obvious because Tori had, out of desperation, agreed to date this guy who flat out lied to her. Jason managed the restaurant she'd been waitressing at, and he promised her he could help. He swore that, though the restaurant, he made contacts, people who could work around the system, and they could get her back into entertainment, living her dream. But what he did was first seduce her, then have her sleep with a couple of his friends, clients at his club. She'd found out he'd lied fairly quickly, and confronted him, only to be laughed at. Tori left, went home, and contemplated killing herself. She even retrieved the gun she'd taken from her father, with the intent of keeping her father from using it to hurt herself, and seriously debated using on herself. But while she was working up to that desperate move, still worried about who would take care of her father if she were totally gone, she'd found another crappy waitressing job, just to pay the rent.

"You'll tell her?" Andre asked, pulling her once more out of her thoughts.

Jade grimaced at her memory, but promised. "I'll tell her."

Jade, meanwhile, had gone to school while focusing on her own problems, and feeling more and more desperate as time went on. Her parents, who were never that well off to begin with, disowned her from the day she turned eighteen. She had a scholarship to go to school, but it didn't cover enough, jut the classes, some of the books. Jade needed more cash, so she worked, lived in her car, did whatever it took to keep going on. Some days she only had one meal, other she didn't eat. In the end, she'd worked in porn. 'Not acting, despite how much a lot of the guys wanted to work with me, but at the time, I just wasn't comfortable selling my body. Had my reasons, and others added to them, but I just couldn't. Lucky me, they needed people in production almost more then they needed pretty girls to fuck in front of the camera.' By the time she'd met up with Tori again, Jade had her name on countless productions, all of them pornography. She'd done just about every job one could do behind the camera, from makeup to writing to post production to lighting to even unaccredited directing of some of the non sexual scenes which needed a more nuanced eye. But that work gave her experience, money (enough to live on), drive, a reason to start working on her own stories, her own scripts. Jade was becoming an independent filmmaker.

Andre hadn't moved yet. Despite his fear of her, he watched her like a hawk, not yet ready to go away. "Maybe I could leave her a note?" He said, steeling himself for an explosion.

'I survived that experience, and a lot more. Of course I wasn't ready to act in those movies, cause of the trauma. I'd recently survived a couple of attacks, including another fucking rape. You'd think, me being abused as a child, that would have been enough. But no, I had to go screw things up, hurt Tori, and as a result, living in my fucking car, I would up getting raped again. Adding that to the original, god I felt so dead inside, almost like I didn't care any more, like maybe I could just get drunk enough and let them do with my body what they liked. Then, I'd have had the drive to do what I really wanted to do, and just end the pain… Only I found Tori first, and everything changed….' Pushing back another tear, The pale girl focused again on her one time friend. "Sorry, what?" She asked.

"Can I leave Tori a note?" He repeated, now more frustrated.

"Sure." She agreed, shrugging. She was already slipping down the rabbit whole, fueled by old guilt, unresolved beliefs, and the confirmation of one of her oldest fears.

While she was waiting for him to write the note, her mind flashed back to her and Tori's first meeting since high school. It had been about as painful, as full angst. Jade remembered, even before being reminded, what she'd done, back in high school, to be banished from her friends, her life. She remembered, during her senior year, how a prank she pulled had escalated into almost ruining Tori's reputation. Jade hadn't wanted to insinuate she was a slut, just get her to back off from Beck, who was once again showing signs of wanting to be with the Latina. However, the shakedown left Jade on probation at Hollywood Arts for the rest of the year, not being allowed to participate in any plays, limited to school sanctioned performances, and doing so much makeup work and detention she hardly had a social life. Jade had been functionally alone for years because of that one prank, but it didn't matter, cause Tori was hurting too. Tori just had friends, family, to help her through it.

"How will I know she got this note?" Andre asked, confirming to Jade that he didn't trust her. He held the note in his hand, waving it slightly to emphasize what he was talking about.

Jade sighed. "Give it to fucking Trina." She slammed the door. Now too lost in her memories, she couldn't move. Old guilt, deeply felt old pain, assaulted her mind, reflecting her insecurity, driving her to her knees. She slid back, falling to the floor as those memories of what she'd done, what she'd been through, pushed back to the surface. It was too late for any of the techniques she's bee shown to help her drive those dark memories back. Her only way out was though.

She remembered the day Tori proposed. It was, almost literally, two days after she'd found the girl again. After noticing Tori working as a waitress in some diner, and dwaddling about it for a time, Jade had finally gotten the courage to talk to Tori. Admittedly, it was her growing feeling of loss, of giving up, that had pushed her to go talk. Jade didn't even know when she opened the door, walking into the place, what she wanted to talk about. She just knew Tori would have to talk to her. Then, Jade would have been able tell her how sorry she was, maybe help, if needed, before she decided what to do with her life. 'I always was including ending it back then. It felt like a valid choice.' Now that thought scared her, but it was the shadow in her thoughts back then, just under the surface, waiting to show itself, claim her as it's prize. Jade wanted to pay, while ending her pain. Death raked just below porn, and not by that much.

Then She remembered the conversation.

 _Tori looked unkempt, shaky. "What the fuck do you want?" She barked, no patience._

 _Jade had only come into this restaurant because the waitress looked like Tori, and something drew her in. 'I need to do this, just get it off my chest. Let her know how sorry I am, then I can end it. No, no need to think about that yet. Just, take a breath, maybe porn won't be so bad. Focus, talk to Tori.' She took a deep breath, shifting nervously from one foot to the other, before she spoke to the angry girl. "I just… What happened? You look..." She stopped, but only to find the word._

" _Unhappy? Upset? Angry? Fucking put out?" Tori was getting angrier. "OR MAYBE YOUR GONNA USE THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO REMIND ME THAT PEOPLE AREN'T FUCKING NICE, THAT I DON'T LOOK GOOD? UGLY? UNLOVED? UNWANTED?! WELL FUCK THE HELL OUT OF YOU, BITCH, CAUSE I DON'T NEED THAT SHIT!"_

" _I was gonna say broken." Jade said, her own voice shaky._

" _Fuck off." Tori spat, her voice full of venom._

" _Look, I know you'll probably never forgive me..." Jade tried._

" _Thats for sure." Tori cut in._

" _But I was hoping to make amends before..." Jade's voice faded, horror crossing her face for just a moment as she realized what she'd just admitted._

" _WHO FUCKING TOLD YOU?" Tori asked, her voice echoing down the halls. "WAS IT ANDRE?! BECK?! WELL, TELL THEM I'M DOING JUST FINE! NO ONE NEEDS TO WORRY ABOUT ME, NO ONE NEEDS TO WORRY ABOUT TORI!" She broke down in tears, losing whatever composure she had as she fell to her knees. As the now hysterical girl was laying in a lump on the floor, the manager of the restaurant she'd been working at walked out to let her know her reference just called to give her a crappy review._

" _Sorry, Tori, but I just spoke with one of your former employers, and with that review, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to let you go." He looked around, saw the way Jade was glaring at him. "Give me a moment to get your final payment out, and we'll get this over with, okay?"_

 _Not sure what else to do, and not wanting to just leave her there, not after what Tori had just admitted, Jade took her home, hesitating just long enough to gather the Latina's pay for her. Only she chose Tori's home, cause Jade was living in an RV tailor that doubled as her office, as well as the dressing room for the independent film she was struggling to make. It was also conveniently close to her work, literally in the parking lot of the building where she worked._

 _Jade still worked for Soft Touch Productions,_ _the pornography studio, where they let her edit and work on her own film around their_ _work_ _schedule. If she was honest, they sold her the tailor at cost_ _just so she'd have a place, and provided her with both water and sewage hookups, as well as electricity. Her power needs didn't add anything to their costs. In return, they had an editor right there, as well as anything else she could do, for any of the shoots they might be doing at the studio, at any given ti_ me.

'I remember Tori's place.' Jade smiled, despite herself, then once again let the pain of what she'd been through, as well as what was left to come, overtake her. 'Tori lived in a small, grungy studio apartment, livable bit not great. The room was small, and there was a shared shower at the end of the hall.' Later, Tori would tell Jade that she'd learned take sponge baths in the sink, to avoid the scuzzy people living near by. Instead she ran into far more scuzzy people out there, looking to use her.

 _Once inside the apartment, Jade put Tori on the Murphy bed and held her hand until the girl stopped crying. That took a few minutes, making the pale goth worry that maybe she wouldn't be able o o through wit this. 'No, I'm not gonna let her end her life. Not before I find a way to save her.' Jade had the determination of the cornered, looking fr any escape from what she saw as her own impending end._

 _After a while, after Tori recovered enough, Jade was able to slowly pry some of what Tori had been going through from her, as ell as what she'd learned from Tori's open emails, her phone, and whatever other clues were laying around. "Let me help." Jade offered. "Look, I can do it. I'm so far out of the mainstream of Hollywood, whomever's blackballing you can't touch me, and it's a chance for me to maybe make up for what I did back in senior year."_

" _You mean catfhishing me, getting me to take some embarrassing pictures, and posting them?" Tori asked. "God, I'm glad I didn't give you nudes."_

" _Did you ever think as to why I didn't ask for any?" Jade asked._

" _Because if you posted a nude of me, you could have gone to jail." Tori replied. "Now get out. I'm sorry, but this trip down memory lane isn't helping me."_

" _Sure, once you tell me how you intend to do it." Jade countered. She'd steeled herself for this confrontation, sure she was ready for just about anything Tori might throw her way._

" _Do what?" Tori asked._

" _Kill yourself." Jade said, her voice icy calm. Inside, she was shaking, terrified that Tori would toss her out without having a chance to do anything. Since some of the people she worked with had taken a chance on her, helped her out, Jade had learned the value of a second chance. The last thing she was going to do was let Tori end her life before she got hers. Also, Jade was still inches from the edge, and if she was going to end it, then she was going to save Tori first._

" _Who the fuck said I wanted to kill myself?" Tori asked._

" _You did." Jade replied. "Back at the restaurant. So, how you gonna do it?" She watched the other girl for any signs that Tori might be serious, agitated, or otherwise ready to react badly to this uncomfortable conversation._

" _Why do you care?" Tori asked back. Her body shook, just a bit, as she wrapped her arms around herself._

" _I just do." Jade insisted. "So, how?"_

 _There was a long moment of silence between them, neither moving, both holding their breaths. It seemed like Tori wasn't going to talk, then the silence was broken. "I have my dad's gun." Tori admitted. Her voice was weak, shaky, but growing stronger as she spoke. "I took it from him so he wouldn't kill himself. I.. I diidn't know what to do…" She was crying again._

" _Give me the gun." Jade said, her voice strong, commanding. Inside, she felt weak, but the idea of Tori dying hurt her more then anything, because it was still, in her mind, her fault._

 _Shaking a bit as she stood up, Tori walked over to a closet and retrieved a small box. She pulled a gun out of the box, a Glock 23, and immediately pointed it at Jade. "Why do you want it?" Tori demanded. "Planning on saving me the trouble? You gonna finish what you started? Maybe I should take this trade, just shoot you, and let the penal system take care of me. I mean, what have I got to lose?"_

 _:}_

I've been so unfocused, all over the place, working on one story, then another, until this one reminded me it existed, and I liked it enough to change every word of what I already had written, and see if maybe I could add more. Not my best work, but I do kinda like it. So, what do you think. Let me know.

Also, lets be honest, Tori doesn't shoot Jade. At least not fatally. Just saying.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own victorious or any of it's characters.

 _Flashbacks in italics._

Trigger warning. Mention of rape, self harm, possibly other triggers.

:}

Jade sat there, on the floor of her apartment, her mind lost in the past. An old friends visit had confirmed that her one time friends hated her now, which sent her reeling back into her memories. The only way out was through. 'That day, the day we reconnected, I remember how much I needed to tell her how sorry I was.' Jade thought as she slipped back, deeper into her memories.

 _Tori was shaking as she stood up and walked over to a closet and retrieved a small box. She pulled a gun out of the box, a Glock 23, and immediately pointed it at Jade. "Why do you want it?" Tori demanded. "Planning on saving me the trouble? You gonna finish what you started? Maybe I should take this trade, just shoot you, and let the penal system take care of me. I mean, what have I got to lose?"_

" _Do it." Jade replied, not even thinking, her voice full of venom. When Tori's face hardened, Jade repeated "DO IT! JUST FUCKING SHOOT ME! THEN MAYBE I WON'T CARE THAT I FUCKING SCREWED UP, THAT I'M LIVING IN MY CAR, THAT I WAS RAPED, THAT MT WHOLE LIFE SUCKS AND I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE, CAUSE IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" The pale girl broke down in tears, crying on Tori's bed, even as she was trying to push back the flood she's let slip. "I'd have done it, but I don't have easy access to a gun..." She mumbled out through tears._

" _No." Tori's voice was clear, strong, angry. "It's not that I don't believe you…." She had to stop as she watched the goth try to collect herself. The pale girl didn't seem to be listening, lost in some private struggle. Jade tried to regain control of her raging emotions, breathing hard and pushing against the bed and slamming her hand into the wall until Tori was afraid that the wall, Jade's hand, or both, would break. "ENOUGH!" Tori screamed, but even that wasn't stopping the flow of tears coming out of the goth, or the silent screams forcing their way out of her lips._

 _Tori hesitated, contemplating her options, before removing the bullets from the gun and dropping them on the table, then dropping the weapon along side the ammo. Once that was done, the gun safe, she rushed to where Jade was thrashing about, vainly trying to regain some measure of control. Tori braved the pale girls jerking motions to pull her into a tight embrace, and just held on as the other girl slowly stopped struggling and let herself cry. Tori held on, trying not to think about what Jade had just admitted to her and half the building. Tori didn't want to know how Jade had suffered, since that made it a little harder for her to hate the girl._

 _After Tori chose to hold her, give her some measure of strength, Jade recovered fairly quickly. As she did, she was able to exchange tales about what each one of them had done since school. Jade found herself hating the fact that Tori was, for all intent and purpose, alone in the world. She did give Tori credit for sticking up for their friends, who the singer had functionally pushed away to protect them. But as their exchange of unpleasant memories continued, Jade's usually through tears stained words, Tori found herself feeling some kind of camaraderie with Jade. "God, we make quite the pair, don't we?" Tori asked, finally letting go of the damaged goth._

" _Why didn't you just shoot me?" Jade asked, her reddened eyes asking so much more. Then a hardness returned. "No, wait, I wouldn't want that on you. Give me the gun..."_

" _No." Tori said, not sure she would be heard. "I don't want you to die."_

" _But..." Jade tried to make sense of that statement. At that moment, she was sure they'd both be better off once she was gone. 'Everyone would be happier if I died.' She thought, unable to fully form the words._

" _You're not done suffering yet." Tori continued. "You offered to help, so I wanna know why?"_

" _Maybe make up for catfishing you, posting the pictures of you in your underwear on line." Jade admitted. "Maybe buying my way out of hell."_

" _So you and Beck might have another shot?" Tori asked. Her voice had suddenly grown harder, sharp and cutting and still somehow not holding the level of hate she'd felt just a short time ago._

" _No, that ships long ago sailed." Jade admitted, her own shoulders slumping just a hair more. "I don't have anyone's contact information, not any more. I do suspect I could raid your contacts and get them all, but that… No, I'm done taking from you." Jade didn't even hold out the hope that she'd be getting Cats phone number, just accepting her own life may be wasted, despite the good she'd been holding on to. Jade's life was better, she had a place to live, a potential future, a lot of choices as to where to go. But her hurt, both from the guilt, added to the more recent injuries, seemed to block any chance she had. It killed her drive, to the point where she felt like she was fighting just to fight. If something didn't change, Jade knew she would stall, fall back, take the path of least resistance. To her damaged mind, a career in pornography almost seemed like her best chance at anything beyond the slow death that had been devouring her life. It was also another slow death, one she suspected would be much more noticeable as time and experience took their toll. Jade was lost, without real hope, because she felt like whatever happened, she deserved it. 'Once I've bought my way out of hell, maybe...' A dark hope that wasn't so much off a bright future as a noble ending._

" _Then what do you want?" Tori asked. "What are you hoping this will accomplish?"_

 _J_ _ade was reeling_ _from the emotions that had now surfaced, confusing her to no end. Walls broken down, desires overriding set goals, she found herself asking 'What do I really want?' For the first time in years, she was_ _trying to understand her own motivations,_ _discover her_ _own desires. She had to_ _once again_ _look towards the future, what had once been her guiding star, shining off in the distance. But she'd been living just to keep going for too long now, and had no drive left to save herself._ _Her future was dark, blackened landscapes cloaked in night._ _Porn, death, they felt like the same thing to her. Giving up. But at the same time., she knew that giving up a hopeless fight wasn't cowardice, just common sense._ _That was where she found her answer._

" _A reason to keep going, to make some sacrifices, to maybe live." Jade admitted, more to herself then to Tori. As much as she was hurting, wanted to just die, she also had reasons to want to live. "I've fought so much, come so far since the attack. I'm not really ready to die, not before I achieve something, maybe prove my dad wrong. But I'm just done fighting for me, or for a cause I don't even remember. Hell, I don't even like me any more. I need someone to fight for, someone to live for." What she was looking for was a push, one way or the other. Standing on the edge, balancing on the razors edge, was becoming exhausting, and Jade needed off. So inside, she hoped that helping Tori would give her that push._

 _Tori studied her, really studied her, for a couple of minutes. She let her eyes take in every detail, the warn look on the goths pretty face, the way her ocean blue eyes lacked any real life. Tori took all of that in, before saying "Prove it."_

" _What? Take a bullet in the leg? Maybe have you beat the hell outta me?" Jade asked. Her hands flailed about, gesturing at nothing but the wind. Jade honestly didn't care what, she wanted to know what she could possibly do to prove to Tori she was serious. 'Honestly, if I were her, I wouldn't believe me either.'_

" _Patience, all things in time." Tori remarked, a dark, humorless smile crossing her face. "No, if I'm gonna give you a reason to live, then I want you to do the same for me. Be there, hold my hand, whatever the fuck else I might need from you. Thing is, I'm like you, feeling like no one in the whole fucking world is ever gonna wanna love me. So why the fuck wait for love. Lets seal this match made in hell with a kiss." There was an almost manic look on the Latina's tanned face._

" _I don't..." Jade felt a bit off, bewildered, not sure what Tori was saying. Confusion successfully diluting the pain and self loathing she'd been previously holding in until it had bursts out all over Tori's small flat. Now, she just didn't understand._

" _Marry me." The Latina snapped. "Commit to being there when things go bad. Be my person who they call first when life takes me down a peg, and I'll do the same for you."_

" _Really, marriage?" Jade asked. "As in us, together?"_

" _As in, if we're gonna be each others support system, we make it official." Tori confirmed. "An arranged marriage of inconvenience."_

" _You know, it's gonna be hell." Jade warned._

" _We're both ready to die, Jade. What's the worst that could happen?" The two of them sat there, weighing their options, until the pale girl nodded._

 _Her thoughts had been dark, full of self loathing. 'Might as well accept this as my penance. It'll hurt, but hay, I deserve it. I deserve everything thats happened to me, and more. Maybe, when it's done, she'll forgive me? Then again, maybe I'll just fall to drugs, and fade away. Either works.' Jade knew she was ready to die, or at least to suffer, so why the hell not be someone else's wife. 'Maybe I should look into life insurance, give her something else after I die….?'_

 _They'd gotten married the very next day, the ceremony being particularly affordable because one of Jade's coworkers at Soft Touch was an ordained minister. However, they were fighting from before they got the license. They fought about almost everything, issues otherwise to small to notice became the center of their next verbal brawl. They fought over about who to tell, who not too, with Tori wanting to tell as few people as possible, while Jade felt that maybe she should involve Tori's family. They fought about where to live, with Jade wanting them to live together, and Tori wanting them to live apart. They fought about if they should find out what they each preferred to eat, so they could shop together and save money on bulk, or if they should just section off the refrigerator, and the cabinets, and each buy their own food. They fought over transportation, with them both agreeing they probably didn't need two junkers to maintain, but neither wanting to give up the freedom that having a car meant. They even fought about who's name to take, and Tori just didn't care. She was fighting just to scream at her new wife, and when Jade was ready to abandon the West name, Tori decided to take it, regardless of what Jade did. It felt like the only thing they agreed on was that they were not in love, and never would be._

 _That understanding lasted four months. Four months of battlegrounds, where they fought about things neither of them would have dreamed the other would care about. They moved Tori out of her crappy apartment, subletting it to reduce their finical woes, and moved both of them into Jade's little trailer in the parking lot of Soft touch. Their arguments would sometimes echo across that lot. Tori demanding so much in the first few days, things Jade couldn't have hoped to provide, like a good reference for her to find a job, or maybe a better place to live._

 _Things were decided, despite the initial friction. Tori put her foot down, and insisted that Jade never act in front of the camera in any adult movies. Somewhere along the line, unbeknownst to Jade, she'd decided that the pale girl might be her ticket back into entertainment. Tori wasn't gonna let anything get in the way of a possible mainstream career, one that would open the door for Tori's return to entertainment, and her eventual stardom. In return, Jade demanded a steep price._

" _So I'm not gonna act in porn? Really?" Jade asked, her body in an aggressive posture. 'Remember, I'm supposed to be helping her. So, it's no big, I agree to staying away from in front of the camera, or at least keeping my cloths on. But, I have to make sure she accepts my counter offer.'_

" _I'm not about to have anyone talking about how I married a whore." Tori said, sounding almost disgusted. "Jade, when I'm famous, this kind of shit is gonna come out. I'm going for that sweet, clean image, like a Disney princess. No way I'm sharing my wife, even a pretend wife, with a bunch of perverted men." Jade started to inhale, prompting Tori to add "And before you say it, I'm taking about the perverts who'd be watching you naked on their computers, as well as whomever it is fucking your ass. Until we're done with this arrangement, that ass is mine, to use or not use as I see fit. So no fucking porn!"_

" _Didn't know there was any other kind." Jade joked. "Okay, no porn." An evil smile crossed her face. "But you gotta do something for me. My family, the could care less if I died, just as long as I don't bleed on their property, or cost them money. But yours, I'm thinking Trina at least, and probably both your parents, their gonna wanna hear from you again. We both know Trina isn't gonna be working in entertainment, not anywhere the Carson's can hurt her, while your parents, neithers in the industry."_

" _So?" Tori asked. Jade knew she suspected something was up, but hadn't been willing to avoid this demand. Not yet._

" _Call them." Jade said. "Think about it. I know there's a lot of bad blood, but damn it, you took your dad's gun to keep him alive, right? When was the last fucking time you called him? How about Trina? They may be going through rough financial times, so maybe all we get is a little emotional support. Or maybe, you get that police officers medial insurance his family can have until your what? Twenty six? That saves us a lot of money. Plus, who knows, in a year or two, maybe you'll be close enough that we can crash at his place, assuming he even has a place big enough to crash at."_

" _I'm not using my dad for a place to stay." Tori groaned._

" _Then you're using him as emotional support." Jade said, smiling. "Tori, I'm trying to keep our deal, but your problems, added to mine, is a lot of weight sometimes. Just call them. Start with your dad, or Trina. Either one. Just call, make contact. Go from there. Maybe, just maybe, you could catch up? At least, let them know your okay, find out if they are. You'll sleep better if you do."_

" _FINE!" Tori screeched, and Jade was amazed she'd won that easily, even if she did have to give up the possibility of working in front of the camera, something she suspected she didn't want to do._

 _Jade had ulterior motives for having Tori contact her family. Jade knew that their support would be necessary for Tori to heal, grow strong again, and thus was a part of her buying her way out of hell. Jade refused to admit, at that time, she cared about Tori more then their deal. It just hurt too much to admit, even unconsciously._

'Tori found her parents were worried sick over her, and never intended their problems to cause her so much grief.' Jade remembered. It was another almost smile moment, before the darkness of that time weighted her down again, dragging her hands down to the floor. Everything about her weighed too much, and she just wanted to rest. But the only way out was through, a hard lesson she'd learned in the past, so she pushed forward. 'But she did it, Tori connected with her parents.'

 _In the beginning, Tori complied with a phone call, surprised her father had the same numbers Jade somehow remembered. From there it led to emails and phone calls, to him, Trina, even Holly, who's number btoh David and Trina had. Baby steps towards reconnecting. But it was a start, the beginning of Vega families mending fences, thus giving Tori some people she could rely on. The entire family, scattered through hurts and betrayal, came together again, slowly, around Tori's need for support, and thus began the long process of rebuilding their own relationships. It opened the door for them to forgiver each other, and themselves.._

 _Then, four months into a mostly dysfunctional yet somehow supportive marriage, they made what both agree was the biggest mistake in their marriage, and the best move either would ever make. During an argument about Tori seeing a counselor, (Jade was refusing to go herself, but wanted Tori to take advantage of the one offered through Mister Vega's work) things got heated. Even in her rage, Tori knew she couldn't beat Jade in a match of physical strength, not that she was going to get in a physical altercation with the dangerous, scissor wielding goth anyways, so she cheated. Tori kissed Jade, with a touch more lust then she'd realized she had._

 _Jade was stunned. She looked at Tori, who was doing much better, despite still needing a massive rebuild for her life. But the time they'd spent, it had caused Tori to regain a lot of her former confidence, and that meant she was more self assured, and more sexy. Jade felt it, the anger, pushing her to do something back, just not what she'd normally expect when her rage takes control. However, at the same time, she knew Tori was cheating, forcing her to feel something else she hadn't felt in a long, long time. Aroused. 'What the holy…?' Jade thought. "You're not..."_

 _Tori silenced her again with another kiss. Deep and needy and passionate and full of a longing Tori had no idea she was conveying._

 _It led to more kissing, and the two girls, high on rage and loneliness and hurt and need, didn't stop until they'd gotten each other off. Laying naked on the bed, each immediately accused the other of manipulating the events, taking advantage of their weakened state._

" _I swear, I wasn't gonna do anything about it, that first kiss, but then you went and kissed me. I mean, you kissed me, and then I kissed back, and I remember there was a lot of kissing, and touching, and groping, and did I take your shirt off? Is it ripped? I… I'll replace it if I ripped your top." Jade almost babbled. "But I wasn't the only one, cause I'm fairly certain you were groping me too."_

" _I do recall touching you too." Tori said, smiling. Her rage was coming back, but this sight, Jade nervous, was just to rare an event to lose to her anger. Or rather, Jade acting like a school girl talking to her crush._

" _I think it's cause I like you, as in like like you." Jade stammered. "Crap, why did I have to fall for you, Vega?"_

" _Fall, as in feelings?" Tori asked, her voice edged with humor. "Jade, sweety, I get it. I'm just so lovable." Tori reached out and took Jade's face in her hands. "I can forgive some angry sex. Hell, I needed that. I like girls, and god, your a girl, with that ass, and those tits. Even those eyes. When you give me the bedroom eyes, I have no trouble seeing myself with you. You know, sexually. So, friends with bennies?" Jade nodded, unable to refuse Tori anything, no matter how much it would hurt._

 _Tori knew she had her, that Jade had all but used the word "Love." Power shifted, in the Latina's favor, and Jade found herself drowning. After that night, they shared a bed, and frequent bouts of angry sex. Tori and Jade both had a lot of hurt in them, and the angry, often physical yet somehow almost never violent sex, helped them work through some of their issues. Tori also reveled in the sensation of being with someone again, someone she knew wanted her for more then just her body. Mostly, she felt safe, because she had the power in that relationship._

 _Jade, meanwhile, found herself needing the release, as her pent up desires grew from each video she edited or otherwise worked on. However, as bad as being Tori's sex buddy was, there were worse moments. Those rare moments when Tori would open up, share, be with her, tore just a touch more of Jade's heart out. And each time it felt like Tori was devouring that small piece of her heart, even as Jade's unhealthy, self destructive love grew. But it worked for them, despite Jade being in love, and Tori seeming not to care beyond enjoying having a lover._

 _The one thing Tori didn't find herself doing, not to often, was using sex as a means to win arguments. Jade did avoid arguing after they'd slept together, but when they did argue, the pale girl almost always wanted Tori to do something that would, in the end, help her out. So Tori didn't use sex to win, just to hurt, letting her girl suffer. Jade was convinced that Tori enjoyed watching as she slowly tore herself apart, turning to newer, and more self destructive means of making it through the day. Drugs and sex were off the table, she lived with Tori, who'd recently developed a sever dislike for the drugs, and a love of sex. But Jade was cleaver, knew of a lot of ways to hurt herself..._

 _:}_

So, who guessed thats what Jade was gonna do once Tori pulled the gun? Lots of quick explication in this chapter, but it helps understand how their marriage evolved over time. Just don't be too mad at Tori. People used her, so she may feel the need to lash out a bit. As for Jade, isn't love a many splendored thing?

Comments, questions, wondering what the holy hell, go ahead and leave a review. For those of you who wanted dark, this is about as dark as it gets, except for a bit in next chapter where I go a touch deeper into her growing self harm. It shouldn't last long.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I checked, and I still don't own Victorious or any of it's characters. I think we all know who does.

Trigger warning: Mention of abuse, rape, and a few other non-pg subjects.

Apologies, this is a touch longer, but I did promise to get through the background in just three chapters.

:}

Jade sat there, in her darkening apartment, her back against the door, thinking about her past, and the pain that comes with unrequited love. 'Tori had her reasons, but man, she strung me along. Eight month. She knew I loved her, never said a word, for eight months after I admitted my feelings. Sometimes, she'd say she cared about me, as a friend, or an investment. But love? No, she avoided using that word. Never once let me believe she could love me. Not until our first wedding anniversary.' Her tears flowed slowly now, reflections of old hurts, born of an unrequited love.

 _For eight months, Jade carried that pain, that hurt, from her unrequited love. Her feelings like her heart was being slowly torn out and devoured, leaving her feeling empty and aching. It was, partially, Tori's revenge for the many hurts she'd endured during high school. However in the time before Tori said anything about her own feelings, even as Jade accepted she'd been the only one to feel, Tori chose to crack the whip, and get something more out of their new relationship. Tori decided that, since she was getting help, seeing a therapist, she felt that it was time Jade did so too._

" _Jade, you insisted I see a therapist, and whats good for my pain has to be good for yours, so why the hell not see someone?" Tori argued. "I mean, you said you loved me, and while I can't say I share those feelings, I do want to see you get stronger. So please, will you see someone? For me?" Tori had seen Jade staring at the gun strongbox, the small safe place where they stored her fathers gun. The fear was that Jade might still hurt herself, and despite everything else, Tori knew she didn't want that._

 _Jade had practiced some forms of self harm, both direct and environmental, just to get through the days, the weeks, the stresses of Tori's slow torture, everything. Jade was also Tori's lover, so she had to be careful not to be obvious about how or where she hurt herself, least Tori see and demand she stop. But Tori had to have noticed, over the weeks, that Jade was limping just a bit sometimes, that her workouts were torturous, and that Jade was doing whatever to inflict physical pain upon herself, while avoiding obvious scars, just to be strong for her._

" _You know what? If it'll get you off my back, then fine." Jade growled. Her eyes, however, held dark, evil intents. "But wait, we really can't afford anything right now. Not with everything going on in our lives. So why don't we continue to invest in our futures, and I'll see someone later, when we can budget it."_

" _I was talking to the people at Soft Touch, and they claim to have a very good health plan, say it covers all kinds of therapy." Tori countered. "So you don't have an excuse. However, if they deny you, then I'll just call dad, see if they can arrange a few sessions for my wife." Tori smiled, once again holding all the cards in their argument. "Do you want me involving my dad, maybe yours, in this?"_

 _After that threat, Jade relented. She made an appointment, and was shocked when the people she worked with both reminded her of that appointment, and shifted schedules so she could go. It seemed that she was becoming more then just a resource to them, but an investment, and they wanted her to have every tool it took to succeed. 'Besides, they know about the assault, and I think they'd like me to heal.' Jade realized. 'Gods, why did I have to make friends in the company?'_

 _Unable to avoid seeing her shrink, Jade instead filled her therapists hours with tales of unrequited love, only slowly sharing the darker emotions. The day she told her shrink about the rapes, both of them, the session lasted just under three hours. The pale girl spoke about her feelings, the violation, how she'd grown to be strong, only to be abandoned by everyone. She spoke about her feelings of how this was all her fault, being abandoned, raped, homeless, and how the nice people in the adult film industry had given her more then a second chance, but a place to live. She spoke about her wanting to die, how hard it had been to hold all the pain, the violation, inside. She spoke about her desire to get that pain out had led her to other behaviors, self punishment and thoughts of dying on her fathers lawn. She admitted to feeling empty, unworthy, and how Tori's deal was the one thing she held on to. She'd save Tori and buy her way out of hell._

 _It was cathartic, letting go of some of that pain, being safe enough to admit how powerless she'd felt. From there, Jade started getting stronger, and the weight she'd been carrying slowly got lighter and lighter until she could walk tall again. She even cut down on the self harm, not needing it just to function any more. There were plenty of times when, given the choice, she hurt herself instead of Tori, as much out of her unrequited love as the fear that Tori didn't need her. She believed that Tori would leave just as soon as she was strong enough to live on her own. Those were the thoughts that drove Jade to still using physical pain as a distraction, because selfishly, she didn't want Tori to go._

 _By the end of their first year together, they'd learned to love each other. Tori, however, had started feeling a bit bad about something, avoiding confrontations she used to revel in. She was building up to something, and on their anniversary, Tori admitted her feelings. Jade could honestly never remember seeing Tori so nervous as she looked that day. "Jade, I need to tall you something, and I need you to forgive me for not saying this weeks ago. I just..." A deep breath as the Latina focused. "Angry sex gave way to loving sex a long time ago, and I was terrified to face the possibility that we might be married for real." Tori's hand grabbed Jade's, as much to keep the other girl near as to show any support. "Jade, I lied to myself, over and over, just to find I wasn't what I thought I was. Even thought I suspected, knew it was causing us problems, I just couldn't tell you. I mean, I knew I loved you weeks age, maybe months, and I just couldn't admit it to you. I had the power. As long as you were the one in love, I had the power."_

" _A-and you just let me go on, being the only one who feels?" Jade asked. "Tori, I can understand why you would do a lot of that, not admit it when you didn't know. Hell, I can see not telling me for a while, just because. But Months? Tori, thats not something you do to someone you love."_

" _I know." Tori sighed. Tears threatened to fall, but it was the Latina's turn to hurt for her sins. "I just, we never had an equal relationship. You brought so much to the relationship. Housing, a job, food, and what did I have? Nothing. I came to you unemployed, an emotional wreck. By the time you admitted you loved me, all I could see was it was my turn to take advantage of someone. I had excuses for everything. Every decision I made. Keeping you out of porn, that was protecting my investment, cause you'd be able to have a career if you didn't have film floating around of guys rogering you. Only later I realized I didn't wanna share you. But the kicker, that was the therapy. I wanted you stronger, so you could stand alone, but in the end, what I really wanted was a whole Jade. Not one fragmented by a rape, or blaming herself for what happened to her, or me. No, I was starting to have feelings for you, and I denied it. I honestly don't know when I fell, just one day, I know I had 'em."_

" _I-I don't know what to say." Jade said. "I know, I always felt like I deserved the pain..."_

" _NO!" Tori cut her off. "You didn't deserve this. I hurt you, deliberately, and now I feel so shitty. Get mad, yell, break things. I need to know your angry..."_

" _I could cut myself..." It was a dark humor, and one that drew a reaction. Tori slapped her._

" _Don't you dare!" Tori's brown eyes were on fire. "Thats mine. All of it, and I don't want it damaged any more. Got it?"_

" _You don't get to make decisions for me." Jade growled. "If I want to hurt myself, I will."_

" _Then you'd better expect me to nurse you back to health, cause I'm not gonna let you feel all alone any more." Tori said, feeling her own anger rising. "Now kiss me." Her body was already aching, anticipating the angry sex that it had been denied for several weeks. Recently, love had dominated their intimate moments, and while Tori preferred the love, part of her longed for the unbridled passions that the anger brought with it._

" _No." Jade's voice was soft, hurt. "I see what your trying to do. Guess what, I still need time..." She let go of her wife's hand, turning away. But she didn't leave, staying close enough for Tori to know she was there, just not ready. They'd sit there, in that small apartment, unable to be close, but unwilling to be too far away from each other. Sharing the bed that night had been harder then either had been willing to admit, both wanting to touch the other, wanting to comfort their lover. But neither felt right about being comforted, so they stayed on their side of the bed, and spent the night shifting to avoid seeing the other person, all while listening for their every breath. It was a heart wrenching night, that led to a few others that were just as tense._

 _Jade took a while to get over that hurt, but it was one of her better emotional wounds. She was able to accept Tori loved her only because she realized Tori had used that love to hurt her. Jade accepted the love, slowly coming to terms with the one thing her therapist hadn't been able to get her to accept, that she was lovable. That someone could love her, want her for more then sex. But while the whole issue of Tori holding off telling her quickly faded from her memory, Tori didn't let go of it for a while. Tori was scared that she might still hold a grudge against her wife. So as soon as they were touching again, Tori would hold her wife, cuddling and petting, letting the pale girl know she was love, appreciated, even cherished. It was almost unnecessary, by the time they were holding one another again, a few days later, Jade had figured that much out. But the one time goth also knew that Tori needed to feel like she'd earned her forgiveness. So Jade felt forced to indulge in some serious nurturing._

 _Jade used that time to think about the things in hr life that had contributed to her misery. Things like, as good as her mother may have seemed, that woman wasn't nurturing. The woman had issues of her ownm issues that were only resolved by Jade taking a stand… 'I'm getting ahead of myself.'_

 _Jade's dad may have been distant, not really caring about her, but that was mostly him writing her off as useless once she'd decided to go into acting. That, and he'd always been distant, not sure how to express his emotions. What had looked to her mother like strong and silent turned out to be cold and stubborn. Mister West had tried, giving his best effort to being what his wife needed without yet understanding she was looking for approval from her own distant, domineering father. In the end, it turned out, he just wasn't damaged enough._

 _Jade's mother, it seemed, had been somewhat damaged on her own. Her own father, the grandfather Jade was never once introduced too, had some warped ideas on what a girl should be doing, or the duties of a wife. He'd never physically harmed her, he wasn't that bad, but he'd left the impression that a woman should be willing to make any sacrifice to make her man happy. Worse, he'd led her to believe that, if she did, her man would love her, give her the support she needed. Unsaid, in that exchange, was that if somehow a girl didn't earn her daddy's love, or the love of her husband, it was somehow her own fault. Thus, she'd allowed her own daughter, her defenseless child, to be the victim of more then one molester, just because she refused to believe those guys would ever hurt her, even though every one of them did. Jade's mother, Ophelia, believed she was doing everything she could to earn those men's love, and even grew jealous of the attention they seemed to lavish on Jade._

 _Fir a couple of years, the little girls life was a living hell. 'Lucky me, I was only raped once, but molested by how many guys…?" Jade wondered, often enough that she should have seen how the thoughts were going to play out. 'How I'll never know, but mom always believed it was somehow my fault, that I'd somehow tricked the guys into touching me. She actually thought a child would seduce grown men, just for their attention. It wasn't like they were ever good to me. They didn't have to be. And mom did nothing, beyond punish me for trying to get her latest lover in trouble. I mean, at least dad did something, had a couple of them arrested, sent to jail, before he wrote me off completely.' Jade had thought, many many times. That was the reason Jade had lived with her mother in high school, after her father gave up. He just didn't want anything to do with her, not understanding how she couldn't just walk off the experience._

 _By high school, Jade had become dark, dangerous., partially out of a need for self preservation. Once she was a dangerous teen, armed and willing to lash out at anyone who snuck into her room, she'd found it much easier to dissuade her mothers boyfriends from trying to get into her room and molest her. The upside was it enabled her and her other to get along much better, because the elder woman no longer considered her daughter a threat to her many relationships. In fact, it seemed like the only downside, beyond the need to keep people in general away, so she'd feel safe, was that Jade had to lie to her friends, every time she told them was a registered sex offender living in her neighborhood. Many a scuzzy man was labeled so the young West girl could avoid telling people she lived with the sex offender, Jade's mother was on the list, for prostituting her out, a charge the older woman would deny forever._

 _That pain and isolation was also why Jade was often desperate to keep any love she could find. She'd convinced herself that somehow, she was fundamentally unlovable, that no one would, or could, love her. Realizing Tori both could, and did, helped her find her way back to those old pains, challenging them one at a time. Of course, it takes a lot more then two years to make that kind of change in your life. But Jade was on her way, once more challenging that creative energy towards constructing projects. And to thank Tori, Jade was determined to one day make one of her wife's biggest dreams come true. Tori had very specific ideas about where she planned on living._

 _They'd moved into their current apartment two months after Jade had admitted she loved Tori. It was still a flat, but with it's own bathroom, and in a better neighborhood then the one Tori had been in. Only, Tori never once considered it home, just a place to sleep while they pushed forward towards their dreams. Often Tori would let Jade know what her own goals were, holding on to her dream as a beacon of light, beckoning her forward towards her own personal heaven. Long before Tori admitted to feeling anything for Jade, she would share that dream._

" _I want a house." Tori said once again as they lay on the bed. "A place where our family can have barbecue, and maybe swim in our own pool. I want a Jacuzzi, cause I know how much you used to love those… You still love them, right? If you have any triggers around hot tubs, now's the time, cause I'm building our fantasy house in my mind, even as we speak."_

" _I still love hot tubs." Jade said, sighing. At that point, they were a ways from fully recovering, after Tori had admitted to loving Jade, but things had gotten better between them._

" _I want a two story home, minimum." Tori went on. "Yea, ranch houses are nice, and everything all convenient on one floor. But I like the idea of an upstairs. We can have a balcony, something overlooking the pool, and sit out there on warm nights looking at the stars, or the pool. Our kids will be playing, wait, they'd be playing in the yard during the day, but at night, we'd have them in bed, and we'd look out, enjoying our view."_

" _What if the view is of our neighbors?" Jade asked._

" _That's be fine." Tori assured her. "Cause it'd be our view. I so want a home, a house, and I want it with you. We're not planning on going anywhere, not any time soon, so why not?"_

 _Jade smiled, holding her girl, and allowed Tori the dream. "Of course, once I'm no longer blacklisted, I'll make enough for the two of us, and I'll buy us that home." Tori added. She always added that last part, and Jade let her. As the days bleed forward into weeks, then months, Jade still had no idea if she'd ever be more then a small time filmmaker, so why make promises she couldn't keep._

 _But at the same time, those moments, from the early days when Tori would brag about one day living in a house, to the days when they'd lay together and dream, Jade found she loved those times. Those times when Tori would open up and share something of herself, a dream, am goal, and letting Jade in even that small amount was precious to the pale girl. A small part of the blue eyed girl believed that those dreams, of owning a house with a view, were what opened the doors for them to really fall for one another._

 _But Jade's life was changing. While working for the adult film company, and with the full support and encouragement from Tori, Jade finished a movie. The goth had started that project, working on the script, before she and Tori ran into one another, and many of their original fights were about what she should be doing with that film. But, after a short while, using a portable hard drive she'd bought cheep and the equipment Soft Touch lent out to her, Jade made a horror film. More then just being the film maker, she was the star, and filled out the cast and crew with a talented group of aspiring actors and filmmakers she'd met through a support group both her and Tori frequented. It was a sleeper hit. Still in theaters long after she'd expected it to be lost in video, it made almost forty million on a budget of less then a million. Most of that was Jade's, with her other big investors being Soft Touch, working under a pseudonym so that no one would mistake what kind of film it was, as well as a couple of the adult stars who wanted to see her succeed. Jade made a lot of money, over fifteen million. She set aside some of the profits to make another movie, planning on breaking type and making a dramady or a thinking persons rom-com._

 _Turned out she didn't have to. One of the big studios made a bid to help by underwriting her next project. So instead, not too long ago, she'd used some of the money, including her triple paydays as down payment for writing, directing, and producing the next movie, as well as a stipend for appearing in the film, to buy her and Tori a nice home._

" _Tori, we need to talk about an investment I've made." Jade told her wife one day. 'Please, don't be mad. I know you wanted to be the one to buy a house, but we have the money, and I know you don't consider hat apartment a home. Plus, you'll be able to have fun telling me about your latest decorating plans. Please, don't be mad.' Jade mentally begged, hoping her own puppy dog eyes were softening the blow. 'Too bad I don't do vulnerable well.'_

" _What investment?" Tori asked. "I hope you didn't spend too much. The studio may be footing the bill for your next project, but we have no idea if it's gonna be a hit or not. Best to keep some money in reserve for when things go south."_

" _Crap, and I just put a bid in for a house." Jade said, quickly adding "I can pull it if you want."_

" _Let me see the house." Tori's voice was cold, cutting. She still knew how to make Jade cringe._

 _Jade pulled out her phone and showed her the pictures of the house. "It's in the Hollywood hills, has a decent amount of privacy, is in a gated community, with guards, and has enough room to start, and raise, a family."_

 _Tori flipped through the pictures. "Pool?"_

" _Decent sided, with a pool house, and get this, they have the most amazing cover system so you kinda have to get into the cover, which is a dome like thingy, to use the pool." jade was saying._

" _If you can afford it, replace that plastic crap with an actual building, glass ceiling, and we'll have us an all weather pool area." Tori said, sounding like she'd figured out what she wanted near the pool. "Jacuzzi?"_

" _Two." Jade said. "One industrial sized one for parties, and a second one off the main house..."_

" _Good." Tori said. "How much?"_

" _Ten million total." Jade said. "It' s actually a good deal…."_

" _You realize, we're gonna have to break in every room, right?" Tori asked._

" _What now?" Jade asked._

 _Tori sighed. "Why do I have to be the one with a dirty mind. Tell me, Jade, that you thought of Rodgering me in at least three of the main rooms?"_

" _Okay, yes." The pale girl admitted._

" _Okay then, keep the bid in, and if we get the house, you so owe me a second hit film." Tori said, smirking._

 _She was just waiting for escrow to close so she could have some builders make some modifications before she moved her and Tori out of this apartment and into the better home._

So here she was, in love with a woman she wasn't supposed to love, not trying to deal with the lingering hurt that none of their friends from high school trusted her. Naturally, getting Andre to admit he didn't care if she was okay or not had hurt, left her emotionally bleeding once again. 'Just when you think you have it all under control.' She thought, humor failing to make it out of her thoughts.

:}

So, thats what has happened, as far as Jade knows, leading up to this point, with a few things glossed over. Thoughts, comments, locations of millions in pirate treasure, go ahead and tell me in the review.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own victorious or any of it's characters.

Waring, well, your kinda past the trigger warnings for now. However, things get a touch spicy in this chapter. You've been inadequately warned.

:}

Jade had lost track of how long she'd been there, sitting by the door, slowly going back through her memories. They were painful, but also different, because now she knew a little more about what had been going on through that time. Yet the pain wasn't logical, didn't care that Tori loved her from a lot sooner, months maybe, then she admitted. Instead, she'd let the pain, the hurt, and even the feelings of love tinted with regret towards the end, all wash over her, carrying the pale girl forward until she rejoined that moment. She was almost home. 'Gonna be a lot to go over with my therapist later, when we next talk.'

Jade felt the door open behind her, and unconsciously moved to let Tori into the apartment. "How was the spa?" She asked, the rawness of her voice worrying her. She hoped Tori didn't realize she'd been crying. However, she seemed to cover well. 'As long as she doesn't realize I was sitting against the door.'

"You know..." Tori replied, smiling. "It was wonderful. Trina and I, we really reconnected. I'm glad you were able to get us that reservation."

"Andre dropped by, to check in on you." Jade said from her current place sitting on the floor, next to the door. She took a shaky breath. "I think maybe you should call him." Her voice still sounded rough, but felt she had to deliver his message. 'Was a time I'd have thought "This is it, Tori's on her way out." Maybe, even after everything thats happened, she still is.' It was the darkest part of her, reminding her that she was once unloved.

Tori seemed to notice where the other girl was, as realization overtook her face. "God, Jade, are you all right?" Tori Tossed her bag on the couch and rushed back to her wife. "What happened? Why are you on the floor? Did he hurt you? Could he? I mean, you've been crying? Is it something he did or said?" A panic edged her voice, but she was trying to hold it together.

"Just traipsing down memory lane again." Jade growled. Anger, mostly at herself, made it easier to deal with the pain. "Me and Dre, not so tight these days. I just forgot that I'd hurt a lot more people then just you back when I left the group."

Tori wrapped her arms around Jade, subtly trying to pull the girl to her feet. They'd both had enough on the floor moments, and Tori wasn't letting Jade stay down on the ground. "Come on, babe, I need you on the couch."

"It's called rug burn for a reason." Jade said, giving a flash of a smile, before pushing herself to her feet. The smile faded too quickly, replaced by her resting bitch face.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but we don't have a rug there either." Tori shot back as she guided her reluctant wife to the couch. Tori then sat herself, and Jade, down, wrapping her arm around the girl. "I'm sorry if he said anything that hurt."

"I pushed for it." Jade admitted. "I needed to know if we were still friends, or if I was just the girl potently holding you hostage." Another sigh. "Never ask if your not ready for the worst possible answer."

"Well, he may not like you, but he'll have to get used to having you around." Tori said, holding her girl just a bit tighter. "I kinda got used to having you around. I plan on being with you, having your kid, everything."

Jade gave a faint smile. "Got us a house that has room for kids." Jade said, but the joy was short lived. "I just… Gonna need some time to get over the damage I caused."

"Fine, just as long as you remember, you being molested, raped, living in your car, none of that was your fault." Tori reminded her.

"Living in my car kinda was." Jade countered.

"Baby, I love you, and I'll be with you for the rest of your life." Tori assured her. "But if we ever have a fight and you need to go out for a while, I swear, I will beat you with a stick if I find out you were living in your fucking car."

"I have an RV now." Jade said. "Kinda comfortable, has a bed and everything. The one I have, it wasn't as bare bones as the one Beck lived in. I have my own small bedroom, separate from the rest of the trailer."

"Baby, I've seen it, been there, hell, we lived there for a couple of months, and I don't care that it's comfortable. Thats a nice place, you can live there if you want, but I want you in my bed, tonight and every night." Tori said, squeezing her. "Um, not to bring this up again, but have you considered my offer?"

"Can I just cast you in my movies?" Jade Joked. "I think there's a sleeping with me loophole in the blackballing that says I can cast you if I'm nailing you."

"But we checked this out." Tori replied. "If I work as an assistant director, maybe the cinematographer, I won't touch the ban on Tori. And if I'm working with you, we can do so many fun things together."

"Yea, back to sex in my trailer." Jade didn't sound enthusiastic.

"Baby..." Tori growled. "I know your hurting, but you'd better get excited about sleeping with me. In fact, I had a good day, went to the spa, enjoyed a lot of pampering with my sister. I'm not letting you ruin it. So lets go to bed. I feel like screwing you out of this depression and back to reality."

"Tori, I have nothing against being with you anywhere." Jade assured her. "I was just saying, with that new home almost ready for us, the trailer feels like a step or three back."

"Good answer." Tori said, smiling. "I'm not thrilled about you being depressed while I'm doing angry sex. You willing to try tender?" Tori pulled Jade's top up and over her head, coaxing her arms up to make it easier. Then Jade's bra comes off, showing Tori her lovers breasts. Tori leaned down, taking the right nipple into her mouth. Jade's eyes closed as she felt the jolt of life go straight to her loins. A shaky breath escaped Jade's lips…

There was a knock at the door. Tori didn't initially stop, pushing to take more of Jade into her. Tori squeezed the other breast as she licked and suckled on the first…

The knocking was becoming a pounding.

Frustrated, Tori pulled herself off of her now panting wife and assessed her clothing situation. They were both nearly naked now, so instead of bothering to get dressed, she walked to the closet and gathered up both their robes. Tossing the black one to Jade, Tori pulled her purple one onto herself before she walked over to check out who was banging on her door. Her eyes found the peep hole….

It was Andre, back to check up on her. He looked worried, anxious. Tori had no idea why he'd be so freaked out, but she knew that, at the rate he was going, the whole building would be complaining soon. 'Maybe they'll kick us out.' She thought with a wry smile.

A quick glance confirmed that her wife had covered up, even as she smiled at how the flush shone on Jade's pale skin. 'We are so finishing this later.' She thought. Then she opened the door. "Andre, it's been a while."

"You okay?" He asked, pushing his way into the apartment. "I was worried when I didn't hear from you. I decided to come check, see if maybe Jade hadn't given you my message." His eyes darted around the flat, glazing over the couch where Jade was still sitting, a throw pillow held in her hands, covering her robed body.

"She told me." Tori assured him. "Just, we had other things to do first."

"Like?" He asked. That was when things clicked, and he realized just how little the girls were wearing.

"Like me nailing my wife." Tori said coldly.

"Well, I thought..." His eyes were now looking for an escape, because despite all the years, he could tell his friend was mad.

"What?" Tori asked after a moment of tense silence. "You thought what? That maybe I was being held against my will? That she was taking advantage of a confused brainwashed girl? That our whole marriage was just her trying to live high off my work? Dre, I love you as a friend, but I fell for my wife a long time ago."

"Almost a year ago." Jade added.

"I loved you almost as long as you loved me, bitch." Tori tossed over Andre's shoulder to where Jade still was sitting. "I just waited to tell you cause, well, you know why..." Tori said, then shifting her eyes to her friend.

"You really love her?" Andre asked. "As in, 'wanna spend the rest of your life with her, haven't been brainwashed, this is really what you want out of life' love her?"

Tori could almost see the knife turning in her wife's gut. However, the same part of her that stayed silent when it was time to speak up for Trina, held her tongue. Instead, the desire to forgive her friend warred with her desire to enjoy the last few days in this flat annoying the neighbors with the volume of her lovemaking. "Of course I love her." She finally said, pushing her lust aside for the moment.

"You don't sound convinced." Andre pushed.

"Oh, I am." Tori shot back.

"She's like that." Jade added. "She has a hard time, sometimes, showing her love for the people in her life. Once we were past the honeymoon phase, I was often just another person in her life. She loves me, often gets annoyed at me, and in between the times, she tends to act like I'm just her lover."

"Jade, hush." Tori snapped. "Jade knows I love her, and god knows, I've proven it often enough..."

"So thats why you married her?" Andre confirmed. "Cause you love her?" He looked relieved.

"No, we fell in love while trying to survive our first year of marriage." Jade said, still not moving from the couch. She hugged the pillow hard enough to make Tori worry about her, yet still the Latina had other things to deal with first.

"WHAT?" Andre asked as he turned, whipped his head around, now facing the often dangerous girl.

"It's true." Jade insisted. "We got married cause we both felt unloved, and needed someone. The plan was to stay married until we felt we were worth being with. Or maybe it was because they say you always meet the best singles when your involved." Jade gave a playful smirk. "Then we went and fell for each other, and screwed up that plan."

"I was damaged." Tori admitted. "I'd done things I was ashamed of, just trying to get back into show business. Let people use me. I-I..." She shook, just a bit, at the thought of telling Andre how bad it had become.

"Say, Andre, how'd you get back here so quickly?" Jade asked. She was protecting her wife now, distracting from whatever was making her uncomfortable. "I mean, it could have been hours after you spoke with me before Tori got back."

"It was." Andre said, and Tori glared at her wife.

"You mean, you were sitting there, on the mother fucking floor, for hours?" Tori seethed. "Jade, I know your hurting, but we have an agreement. Use the fucking panic alert bracelet. Get someone here. Don't worry about my fucking spa day."

"Floor?" Andre asked. "Wha..."

"Tori, I was drifting in my memories." Jade said. "No offense, Dre, but seeing you again brought up some old stuff, stuff I'd thought I'd dealt with a long time ago, and it kinda left me out of it for a while. I was almost through when Tori got back," She checked the clock on the wall, "less then ten minutes ago. So tell me, how did you get here with such perfect timing?"

"Now, first, it was more like twenty," Andre froze, realizing he had to say something. "Um, I was at the Freezey Queen down the street, watching the apartment. I saw Tori get home, and finished up my ice cream. I expected her to call, let me know things were okay..."

"You were expecting her to call and tell you to get her the hell out of here." Jade snapped back.

"JADE!" Tori's voice cut through the room. "Andre, as much as I appreciate it, I will point out that, just under two years ago, when Jade and I made our deal to get each of us through our pains and troubles, mine including being used by the jerks in Hollywood, I insisted on a more formal arrangement. I was the one who said we had to get married, live under the same roof..."

"I wanted to live together." Jade said. "Share expenses. Make it easier on the both of us."

"Well, I initiated sex." Tori snapped. "Or maybe you did. I can't remember who touched who, just, that night, we couldn't stop. I fucked you, you fucked me, and along the way, you admitted you had feelings, I wanted more, you said you loved me, and we went from there."

"So, heavy wedding night?" Andre joked.

"Four fucking months." Tori seethed. "I was with her four fucking months, and guess what, we fell in love. Okay, I took a bit longer..."

Jade jumped in with "Another eight months."

"I LOVED YOU LONG BEFORE THAT!" Tori screamed. "Damn it, Jade, I told you, I didn't admit it to you cause I wanted you to suffer. That, and we were still having angry sex. I wanted to work that chiz out of my system first. Now, I'm afraid Dre here has to leave, cause I'm good and wazzed off now. I'm gonna let you have it six ways to Sunday, and enjoy every chizzing minute of it."

Andre was so stunned he allowed himself to be pushed out of the room. Seconds later, he heard the lock latch, and then the sounds of angry girls taking it out through passion. 'I'll check in later.' He decided.

Jade woke up next to Tori, thankful she had the foresight to pull out the Murphy bed while Tori was kicking Andre out of the room. "Dose it bother you?" Tori asked.

"What?" Jade wasn't going to roll over, partly because she wasn't sure she could have this conversation face to face with Tori. The other reason was she was the small spoon, like every other time Tori decided she wants angry sex, and had no desire to escape the warm embrace she was enveloped in.

A kiss on her neck let her know Tori was more thoughtful then angry. "That Andre doesn't consider you a friend."

"Just a reminder that you were the only person I had in my life." Jade said, trying not to feel too hurt. Already she was doing as her therapist insisted, and counting the people she'd had do things for her, act as friends, in the last year. It was a big number.

"So we don't count Soft Touch Productions?" Tori asked. "How about Jason Strong, for believing in you and acting as your agent? Deven, who was willing to let you shoot around that old house of his for just a mention and some product placement? Or how about..."

"I get it, I have a lot of people who like me." Jade groaned. "So, I was thinking, I could use an assistant on the set. Maybe someone to act in a couple of the smaller rolls?"

"Would I be expected to pleasure the director?" Tori asked. She didn't give her wife a chance. "Could I anyways? How about the producer? I'm guessing I'll be sleeping with half the big names in production, so I should be compensated accordingly."

"Meaning?" Jade asked. The goth wasn't feeling upset or jealous about this line of conversation, since she filled each of the rolls Tori was talking about.

"Give me one title you wear, and I'll bet I sleep with them." Tori said, smirking.

"Whats this with you and sex?" Jade asked.

"In addition to it being the one area where I can control you, I just need..." Tori's voice faded. It was one of the few areas she hadn't opened up to with Jade.

"It's okay, babe, lets see whats on the agenda for today." Jade started, not wanting to push things. "I'm thinking we need to call Dre, get him back here."

Nodding, Tori reached out to her phone, dialing his number even as she pulled it back to herself. "Andre, it's Tori. I'm not doing much today. I'd love to have lunch with you, after Jade heads off to work. Just, I have an interview later, and so we can't go too long. Thanks, see you there."

"You didn't tell me you had an interview..." Jade started.

"I don't." Tori countered. "Yet. I was gonna drop by and see if we can make love in your office."

Jade sighed, rolling her eyes at the thought. "My office is the trailer, and it's currently hooked up at the new house. Thats if the builders did their job and somehow are on schedule."

Tori rolled her wife so they were face to face. "Jade, I need to tell you something. It's the other reason I married you." The tanned girl looked dangerously serious. "The other other reason." She adjusted, stopping Jade from saying anything. "Babe, I'm a people pleaser."

:}

Okay, not much of a cliffhanger. But hay, it's a big thing to Tori. And I'll bet you all know why. And lets hear it for Andre's timing.

Kinda a short chapter today. Hope you don;t mind.

Review. Comments, critiques, whatever you have, it's all welcome. So review.

I learned my lesson, no one wants to part with their pirate treasure...


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters. I'm just borrowing them, making no money, just reviews.

No trigger warning in this one. Well, maybe one, but I doubt anyone will have flashbacks from that.

:}

Tori sat in bed, naked, looking at her wife. After Dre's second visit, they'd managed to have angry sex, then this morning, they talked about it. But Tori knew, it was time to come clean. "Jade, I need to tell you something. It's the other reason I married you." The tanned girl looked dangerously serious. "The other other reason." She adjusted, stopping Jade from saying anything. "Babe, I'm a people pleaser."

"Of course you are." Jade said, giving her a gentle hug. "It's why people like you."

"You don't understand! This isn't a good thing." Tori pushed. "It's like I need to make people happy, and I often choose to please the larger group." She hesitated, letting a thought form. "Kinda the opposite of the Bird Scene, valuing other peoples opinion more then my own, but it's something I've always done. Like Trina, remember that?" Tori gave a weak smile, feeling like she had an example. "I let you guys be mean to Trina, all through high school. I'll admit, it was partially cause she was unbearable back then, but it's also because I was afraid. I was worried that, if I wasn't with the group, making fun of Trina, then you wouldn't like me. I-I just didn't want to rock the boat." She looked down, gathering her thoughts. "It's an old problem. I don't like standing up to people. Whether for myself or others, I just find it hard sometimes. I mean, you remember what a beast you were to me back at Hollywood arts, right? Well, me wanting to make people happy, help everyone get along, thats one of the big reasons I let you get away with so much of the shit you did to me. It's why I let you guys treat Trina like garbage in out own home." Her eyes, on fire just a moment ago, now seemed to lose that power. "It's also why I let Andre be mean to you, not saying a word. I…" She glanced up now, capturing Jade's attention with her eyes. "I need you to know I love you, that I'm on your side. My actions will have to speak for me, cause my words will often fail me."

"I don't get it." Jade said, seeing the apprehension in her wife's eyes. "How does that relate to you wanting to marry me?"

"I needed you to put your foot down, make me do things that were good for me." Tori said, giving Jade a soft kiss on the nose.

"Like you getting me out of porn before I got in?" Jade asked. "Or you getting me to go to therapy?"

"Both of those were for totally selfish reasons." Tori snapped. "I wanted you to continue working in production. Acting in one of those would diminish your value as an in demand director, while giving far too many people the option of seeing what was and is fucking mine. The therapy, um, You'd already pushed me into going, and it was only fare."

"Why are you working so hard to make it seem like you were being selfish when you were with me?" Jade whined as much as asked.

"Cause I was being selfish." Tori replied. "Jade, I may be a people pleaser, but at that point, I was hurting, and you were my high school bully. I was gonna let you have it. But at the same time, I realized my life would be so much better if I had someone who could say "no" acting as my negotiator. Someone who'd make damn sure that the guys who wanted to fuck me weren't offering me a taste, just a taste, then using me and dropping me for the next hottie who came along. I needed the Jade West who was my bully, so I would be safe. I needed you to make me feel safe. And I was willing to do just about anything to get it, including keeping you alive, and building you up so you'd feel strong enough to help me. Hell, the porn, you not working in front of the camera, that was all about me. I wanted that experience, the production and directing experience, that you were building up. And once it was built up, I was gonna make damn sure you put it to a good use. I saw where you were going, and just hitched my wagon to you."

"You saved my life, more then once." Jade's voice was getting weaker.

"But the real thing was when you said you loved me." Tori continued. "I didn't realize it, but I was close, so fucking close, to having real feelings for you. And, and it scared the crap outta me, cause that wasn't safe.… I felt like I was near the edge, about to fall off. Then, you said you loved me, and, and you meant it. That felt even worse, cause now things felt real, like our marriage of inconvenience had consequences, like we were really married. Like I was allowed to have feelings for you. So I reacted, tried to keep it from being real. But it was, and I didn't even know how much I hurt, watching you suffer. I did that, I know it, I watched you suffer for having said it, having felt the pain of unrequited love. I mean, I could see, could tell that you meant it. You did love me. But instead of glee, knowing I could use that against you, I just felt. Like real feelings."

"You'd been buried in your own hurt for so long, you didn't even realize you were numb until you started to feel again." Jade said. It sounded like something her therapist had said, but it could have been a quote from a number of sources.

"So, you know what that feels like?" Tori asked. "Of course you do. What was I thinking, assuming you had no idea. I married you partly because you were the one person I knew that I was sure had felt the same things."

Jade let out a weak smile. "Still hurts thinking that I have no friends from high school." She murmured.

"Get up, we have things to do." Tori said, shoving her gently. They both got out of bed, and Jade made a point of putting something on. "You know, I can take a robe off." Tori teased.

"I know." Jade replied. "But I think, today, maybe we should just let it be. I mean, we've made love, you wanna make love later, so why not give ourselves a rest?"

"And now I have to." Tori declared, and proceeded to chase Jade around the small apartment, giggling like a small child. When she caught the pale girl, she ravished her face with kisses, only to let go. "But your right, we really should save some of this for later. Hows the new project coming along?"

"Uuugg." Jade groaned as she rolled her eyes. "I've almost finished the scrips, taking into account all the wonderful constructive criticism I was given, and the studio looks ready to approve. So now the next part is getting a couple of big names attached. And you just know their gonna have recommendations on how the story is should flow, which means more fucking rewrites. And on top of that, I know one of my lead actresses is gonna be a total bitch..."

"So you've decided which roil your taking?" Tori jumped in.

"Yea." Jade sighed. "I wish I could offer you this one. I mean, yea, I can play her, but she's so sweet..."

"Did I just hear that Jade west wrote a movie with a character described as sweet?" Tori said in an overly dramatic fashion, her hand on her heart. "Are you sure this isn't a horror film, cause I know she'd die first."

"She's the main supporting character to the lead." Jade explained. "I didn't wanna both carry the film and direct it. Not both at the same time. So I'm casting, hoping some big name jumps at the chance to attach their name and drawing power to my project." The pale girl looked nervous.

"Shouldn't that be done by now?" Tori asked. "I mean, actors get their names attached to projects years in advance, don't they? And your scheduled to start filming soon. Like in the next couple of months soon."

"Lets just hope there's someone good with a hole in their schedule." Jade said. "In the mean time, at the very least, you can be a production assistant. Would rather have you do something more meaningful, but I'm too vulnerable to have you attached as a talent, at least until I make my first hundred million profit bomb."

"So you're doing an action film next?" Tori asked. She knew the kind of movie that made lots of money.

"I haven't started writing my next project, so why the hell not." Jade said. "I can star, assuming the studio trusts me enough to head my own film, and maybe, by then, we can finagle you a part."

"They'll trust you." Tori said, pulling her clothes for the day out. "They can see it, just like I can. You're a major talent on the rise. They'll let you take risks until one of them fails to pay off. Just, not too soon. I kinda like celebrating with you."

Jade rolled her eyes as she started pulling clothes on, only for Tori to playfully start unbuttoning her outfit. This went on for a few minutes, until Jade realized this was just teasing, and her wife had no intent on doing any more then build frustration. "Tori, either put up or hands off." Jade snapped.

"I think you mean put out." Tori said, giggling. But the Latina did shift to focusing on getting her own clothes straitened out. Jade had, between fastening her own garments, taken to loosening Tori's.

The two girls managed to get dressed and out the door. Jade headed to her office, where the phones were barely plugged in, and started making calls with the various people she needed to connect with for the day. She didn't yet have an assistant, and the more she thought about it, the more it felt right to have Tori helping out. 'Just until things get going, or she somehow makes me regret her saving my life.' Jade thought.

Across town, Tori was meeting her old friend for lunch. "Andre, how're you doing?" She greeted him, letting the awkwardness of the previous night slide, for now. "My god, has it really been seven fucking years sine we were in the same place, at the same time?"

"If you don't count last night." He said, trying to toss it out as a joke, and feeling it fall flat. "Seriously, she wasn't forcing you, was she? Was there a gun? Blink twice if your being watched."

Tori let out a long sigh. "I fell in love with her, and she fell for me. The bad was, she fell first, and let me know while I was still hurting. I was kinda a bitch to her. I have no idea why she's still with me, now that her life is staring to flow the way she wants it too."

"I saw her debut film." The musician said. "It was good. Scary as shit, but good." he gave that thought a moment. "So, what she working on now?"

"Jade wrote a romantic comedy for herself to direct, and a follow up to the horror film for her production company to make." Tori said, looking over the menu. "Funny, now, I can afford to go to a nice restaurant, order whatever I want. Just a few months ago, that wasn't likely to happen. At least, not if I was paying."

"I'll pay." Andre offered. "My bands doing okay, and I have even more clients for my songwriting talents, so I'm flush enough with cash. Let me buy an old friend some lunch."

Tori smiled. "There was a time when Jade would forcibly remove your manhood for trying something like this." She joked.

Andre laughed. "But she's a lot more mellow now, right?" He asked. Then, as the second ticked by with no response from Tori but an apologetic smile, his own smile slowly vanished from his face. Finally, after what felt like hours, but probably wasn't more then thirty seconds, he said "Tori, you were joking, right? I mean, Jade's more secure then she was back in high school right?…. Tori, come on, let a brother know he's not in danger of a scissor based injury that would reduce my appeal to the ladies." Panic was creeping into his voice.

"She's a lot more mellow." Tori assured him. "Okay, maybe not mellow, but she knows I would never cheat on her. I just wanted to make you nervous."

"WHY?" He was instantly embarrassed at how loud he'd been.

"Because you hurt her." Tori snapped, trying to keep her temper in check. "Look, I know you didn't mean to, and she pushed, but she was sitting by the door when I got back, with the lights off. I'm sure she sat there the entire time you were waiting for me to get home. And who could blame her? Of all the original gang, you were the one person, other then Beck, who she thought of as a true friend. Yes, she looked after Cat, but that was like taking care of a child sometimes. And Robbie, he wasn't her friend, mostly because she was a shallow gank, but also because she needed him to be genuine. She needed him to be able to be there for her, and she believed that would never happen. So yea, you and Beck were it. And of course me, but we all know how that went down."

Andre was listening, more stunned then he'd been in a long time. "I hurt her? Sorry, but after what she'd done, I wasn't aware she could be hurt." He got quiet, only to start again. "I know, not what you wanna hear, but honestly, I was so angry at her, I just wanted something bad to happen to her."

"Something bad did." Tori said, not looking at him. She didn't feel she could. "More bad things then happened to me. And I know, we both should be celebrating her misfortune. But that wasn't who I was, who I liked being. I realized, when I married her, I didn't want her to suffer. Not like that, and after a while, not at all. Well, not more then normal for a healthy, happy marriage. Turns out that what I wanted was her to change, say she was sorry, make things up to me. And... and she did. I love her, but she worked hard, before we actually fell in love, she worked so hard trying to make things up to me. A-And yes, maybe it was to buy her way out of hell, as she liked to say, but I think it worked, cause the gods, they're giving us a taste of heaven. I just want it to last. And for that, I need her to forgive herself."

"Thats deep." Dre replied. He then sighed, smiling for just a moment. "Yea, she was my friend, and I was kinda worried about her. Just not nearly as much as I worried about you. I mean, she's tough. She's a survivor. Maybe you caught her at a down time, but she'd just bounce back..." He had more to say, but someone spoke up.

"It's not my place.." The waitress started, "But sometimes, isn't buying your way out of hell a low point?"

"Very." Tori said, her voice ice. "Sorry, you were trying to help. But this is personal, okay?" Her voice was less harsh, but still carried a sting.

"Yes ma'am." The woman said as she finished placing their meals in front of them.

"Thats gonna hurt her tip." Andre said, watching the girl walk away.

"So, anyways, I really want you two to find some way to coexist, cause I'm not letting her go." Tori tried, thinking that maybe there was some hope after all. "You have no idea how grateful I am to Soft Touch for supporting Jade in her dream of being a film maker."

"Sot touch?" Andre asked. "That name sounds familiar..."

"They make adult films." Tori clarified. "Jade worked for them in production, up until just a few months ago, when they helped her negotiate her current deal with the big boys, and then helped her form her own production company. She uses some of their people in behind the camera stuff, as well as extras in her films."

"Who'd have thought..." Dre said, smirking. "I mean, with her assets, I'd believe she worked in front of the cameras… So she worked for them as what, an editor? Adding filming effects? What did she do for them?"

"Anything they needed done post filming." Tori explained. "She even did sound editing, having some of the starts come on and add extra vocal tracts to clean up a bad sound take, or maybe enhance the sound in a scene..."

"She made good money?" Andre asked.

"Not really." Tori replied, shrugging. "Enough. She was living in a RV trailer when we met up, two years ago, and for a while, I was living with her. It was cheaper then keeping my flat, once I lost my waitressing job. Stevens family had arranged for me to only get bad reviews from the people I worked for, including restaurants." She looked tot he side, almost embarrassed about her next statement. "But I talked t Jade, got her to help out. She talked to the people at Soft touch, and they hired me to do makeup. I only did a couple of shoots, and it took time to get used to the nudity, but I did it, got me a reference who'd say good things about me. The Carson family, turns out they have no influence in the adult industry. Got me a good reference, and from it a decent job working as a receptionist at a child care center. Now, I'm letting that job go, planning on switching things up and working with and for Jade. Gonna get me that career I wanted."

"All thanks to Jade." Andre finished for her.

"I helped." Tori said. "Made damn sure she didn't give up on her independent film, or turn to being a porn actress. I made her push for her dreams, and even offered to work supporting the both of us, if it gave her time to finish that film."

"So it was a team effort." Andre repeated. "I get that. Tori, I'm not saying this was a bad choice, just I had no idea things were that bad. For you, or her, or both of you? I mean, why didn't you call me? Ask for help?"

"First, and I'm not blaming you for this, but you all but said me and Jade was a bad idea." Tori said. "I seem to recall someone saying to blink twice if she was forcing me. Well, she's not. Some days, I feel like I'm acting all slutty, cause I need to be with her, and she's just so tired. But my sex life, thats not your business. The point is, you did say it felt like a mistake."

"And not telling anyone?" Andre asked.

"I felt like I needed to protect you guys from the Carsons, at least until you were untouchable." Tori said, looking away.

"I get that." Andre nodded. "But if it was that bad..."

"Jade wanted me to tell you guys." Tori continued. "She wanted you involved in my life, claimed that I'd be better off with my friends there when things went wrong, or if I felt like I needed more support then she could give. It was one of the reasons I seemed to fade on social media, only to surged back. But Jade, she never reached out cause she..." Tori looked out the window, trying to find the words. "You guys cut her out of your lives. She didn't, doesn't have any of your contact information."

:}

So, Jade is truly cut off from her school friends, while Tori still was in contact with them, on social media. The problem with that, Tori has all the contacts. There has to be more, right? I suspect they won't even bring that up.

What are your thoughts about Tori as a people pleasure? Kinda a difficult situation to be in, because in groups larger then one on one, she will have problems saying no. That why she needs friends looking out for her. It also explains why she sided with her friends over Trina being at their house. Where Trina lived.

Anyways, thoughts, comments correct was of spelling words, I'll take them all in the reviews. And I won't even threaten you with Jade's scissors, cause mine are from the collar store, and it'd be so much work finding everyone… Better just to let it be.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Don't own victorious or any of it's characters.

Warning: things may be triggering, as we go along. However, I think this chapter is safe.

:}

Tori had been explaining to Andre why she and Jade hadn't reached out to any of their high school friends before recently. "Jade, she never reached out cause she..." Tori looked out the window, trying to find the words. "You guys cut her out of your lives. She didn't, doesn't have any of your contact information."

"Not even Cats?" Dre asked, disbelief coloring his words. "Wait, your serious? Not even sweet, forgiving Cat? I mean, come on, we both know she could have gotten Cats contact information any time she wanted, so why the hell isn't she in contact with Cat?"

"Not even Cat." Tori affirmed. "Jade was all alone in this fucking world, save for the people she'd met through Soft Touch, and the work she did for them. And she was seen as a conquest by so many of the guys, it was sad..."

"Now I know you're just funning me." Andre said, still in denial. "Cat wouldn't unfriend anyone, let alone Jade. I mean, who would look after her if she doesn't have Jade?"

"Must be someone, cause every time I brought Jade up, over the last couple of years, she either tells me not to trust Jade, or reminds me that Jade is dead to her." Tori said, a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

"But, that can't be from what Jade did to you, can it?" Andre asked. "I mean, Cat forgives everyone. She forgave you for kissing her boyfriend AFTER spraying hot cheese all over her. If she can forgive you for that, then catfishing, someone else, she has to be able to forgive that."

"You'd think, right?" Tori chimed in.

"So Jade has to have done something far worse to Cat." Andre finished.

"Except, other then claiming she deserved being alone, Jade never mentioned hurting Cat." Tori said.

"Maybe she crossed the line when she tried to get contact information out of Cat?" Andre speculated.

"I don't know." Tori said, but her resolve just strengthened. "Jade's admitted to a lot during out time together, and she's taken responsibility for all of it, including things that can't be her fault. And before you say it, that wasn't a play for sympathy. Jade's hurting inside, so much I forced her to see a therapist. I-I think there might be more to this story then anyone is letting on."

"Wait, don't you have everyone's contact information?" Andre asked. It was almost a blind spot, given how many people wanted to be in contact with her. 'Sides, this modern world, ain't that hard to find someone, get in contact.' He thought.

"Yea, I do..." Tori paused as she thought about it. "She could have gotten everything from me, if she wanted too. I mean, there was a time, I swear, there was a time when I was afraid she would be emailing all of you, just so I wouldn't be alone. Thing is, I've never really hidden any of that chiz. It's just… I don't think she's comfortable asking me. Se was cut out of your lives, felt there was no going back. Then, we have the whole Cat issue. Maybe she feels she can't because of whatever issued Cat has with her... I don't know."

"Maybe you should ask them?" Andre queried. "The others, the old gang. Maybe you should ask them. Just admit to this whole married chiz, and ask."

"It'd be easier if I just showed them. Maybe all at once?" She seemed to pep up at that idea. "Yea, I like that. Get them all in one place, and just talk it out. So how about this. Maybe we should hold a reunion? Just to get everyone together? Then we can work this out, clear the air a bit. Let them know that Jade and I are good now. Also, if there is a problem, with any one of them, we can try to fix it." Her eyes held such hope, strong reflections of the Tori he knew in high school..

"Nothing so formal. We wanna keep it light. So how about we have us a get together, just old friends catching u?." Andre suggested. "Only, and don't hate me for this, we don't invite Jade. I mean, yea, we'll have her come to the next one, reconnect with everyone. But for now, we need to get together and talk things out. I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to find out your life is getting better. We use that as an excuse for a party, and then we just feel things out, find out where they are in life, and what they might think about your wife. I know, you really wanna have Jade there, you've been more then clear about your feelings for her. I just don't think we'll accomplish anything if we start out that way. She may be a bit of a lightning rod if we do."

"Then what do I tell her? That I'm going out to see some friends, and she's not welcome?" Tori asked. There was a touch of anger under her tones. Tori didn't want to be mad at Andre, but a big part of her was trying to protect her relationship.

"How about you send her to a spa visit, and maybe have Trina act as chaperon, making sure Jade go's, stays there out of the way, and who knows, maybe even has a goo time? That way, you can enjoy the party, and she'll be taken care of." He suggested.

"Jade's not so much a spa person." Tori said. "And her and Trina, not quite friends yet."

"Anyone in the family on good terms with her?" Andre asked, hoping he didn't sound to doubtful. He'd chosen the order of words vary carefully, because it was the other persons relationship that would help make this happen.

"My dad." Tori replied. "He kinda believes in second chances. I know, odd for a cop, but you wouldn't believe the number of them who either believe in, or root for that second chance for people. They honestly want criminals to change their lives, find the right way to live. Not the majority, unfortunately, but many. Kinda makes my dad special… and he likes Jade."

"Then have them spend that time together." Andre suggested, ignoring Tori's babbling. "Bonding, or whatever. Just, arrange things so we can get together, have ourselves a nice party, and feel people out about Jade." His hand went up, stopping the girl from jumping in. "I get it, she's a part of your life, and we'll all have to accept that. I'm just saying, if she really was hurt by my rejection, don't drag her to a room full of people who may still hate her, okay?" He gave his best consolatory smile. "Also, while we're there, Jade free, maybe we can talk to Cat, see why she's so wazzed at Jade."

Tori just nodded. 'Andre's on his way back. Maybe he isn't Jade's friend yet, but he's mine, and that means he'll help her. Jade, I'm not letting you be lonely, ever again.' She smiled at the thought of how she was going to surprise Jade with the return of her old friends. Deep inside, she had a fear, stirring only slightly at that moment, that this could be something other then a chance to smooth the way for jade to be back in their lives.

It took a little over a week to get everything set up, and in that time Tori managed one awkward dinner with both Andre and Jade. Andre may have understood how much Jade had suffered for her sins, but he wasn't quite ready to forgive her. He had his own issues with Jade, and they made it hard for him to see how much Jade had changed. Or rather, hadn't, since Tori needed back the strong, defiant Jade so someone could be the spearhead that drove them towards success.

Andre had tried, the entire time, talking about Jade's movie. "So, you had porn actors in that film?"

"Not that many." Jade said. "Yes, they're comfortable being naked on film. Just, acting isn't their main qualification. So of course, I used them mainly for some of the nonspeaking rolls, cause they're in good shape, and are game for so much. Hell, their all surprisingly comfortable with their bodies. That hot tub scene with the naked old man, he's in porn. European, does stuff with teenage girls, and was such a sweetheart I added that scene just so he could get a legitimate film credit."

"Well, it was disturbing." The musician agreed. "Thats not the kind of body you normally see nude in a film."

"That was the point." Jade said, but her smile faded. "So, what've you been up to?"

"Making music." Andre replied. "My band, it's doing shows, touring, seeing the world. Then, I help write and produce music for other artists."

"Yea, I heard." Jade said, glancing at Tori. The Latina had been unusually silent the entire time, cringing at the tension. Every time it felt like the tension would break, they seemed to pull back, step away. "So, you liking the road?"

"It's got it's own charm, but it's also a necessity, building the brand. Sides, I have an album out." Andre said. "Of course, not a lot of press, cause I'm still building my rep, but hay, I'm doing what I love. I'm sure you get that."

"Yea, totally." Jade's eyes were usually very responsive, helping her cover her lies, adding to her ability to show whatever emotion she wanted. So when Andre saw the deadness in them, he felt the awkwardness skyrocket.

"Look, Jade, I'm not sure what I was hoping to accomplish, but..." His voice trembled as he hesitated. "Look..."

"You said that." Jade said.

"I don't have the first chizzing clue what you went through, but I do know that Tori was hurting, and she claims that you got it worse." His brown eyes bore into her blue. "But as much as I feel for you, and I do. I wish whatever it was never happened. But, as much as I do, or however much you've done to make up for it, I can only react to what I know, what I've seen. Jade, I want to be involved in Tori's life, and to do that, I need to forgive you. It's gonna take time, because all I know is that whatever Tori went through, somehow, some way, you're..."

"Responsible?" Jade jumped in, preempting his chance to say anything else. Her eyes burned, challenger him to deny it, or try to spare her feelings. There was the fire that he was so used too, way back in school.

"Yes!" He said. Then, his face fell, even as her eyes faded, her hurt leaking through past her defenses. "Only no. No, cause you didn't have a thing to do with what Steven did to her. Yes, you hurt her, hurt all of us. It was a royal mess. But Jade, I know most of what Tori went through wasn't your fault."

"But you still blame me." Jade said. "It's okay. I kinda do too."

After that, the conversation just died. Andre tried to say something, but nothing came to mind, and his mouth refused to work. He stared across the table, at the damage his admission had caused. Tori split her time between glaring holes in him, and checking in on her wife. It didn't, couldn't change the fact that somehow, he held Jade responsible for Tori's fall. Even his own admittance, saying that he realized there was no way Jade could have done most of the chiz that hurt Tori, damaged her future, didn't change his feelings. Jade hurt everyone, and to Dre, that was enough.

But he was trying, slow and painful as it was. When Jade said as much, admitted she blamed herself as well, it tore into him, more then a little. It was the first time Jade being hurt felt real o him. He suspected, then, that she was far more damaged then he'd have guessed, even with Tori's warning.

As for Jade, she seemed to withdraw into herself. While she pushed her food around the plate, from that last confrontation, until Tori put her foot down, Jade didn't eat another bite. Tori made her eat more, then asked for a carry out box. The chill in the air was palatable. When Tori bid him farewell, and guided her girl away, Andre watched the way Jade dragged her feet. It spoke volumes to the guilt and pain she was carrying. She was deeply wounded, even after everything Tori had done to repair the dark goth.

It would be days before Jade felt strong enough to face anyone outside of her normal routine. Tori hoped that this party would do more to help then hurt. However, Inside, she was terrified that she'd fall back on old habits, and wind up making decisions that hurt both her and Jade. However, Jade, wounded as she was, insisted Tori go have this evening with her friend. The Latina hadn't told her anything more then she'd be getting together with Andre to try and further reconnect, and had asked her to spend time with David while they did that. Tori claimed it was concern after the way Jade got upset from their previous meal.

Neither Jade nor David argued when they arranged a ride along, even though it required David to work an evening, and very few detectives offered ride-alongs. David had only recently gotten back on the streets, as a part of the Major Crimes unit, so it was very unusual for him to be out on anything like a patrol. However, taking along a young filmmaker, showing her the streets, that made it seem more normal. Of course, both of them knew the real reason was the ongoing issues between Jade and Andre. It was important for Tori to have this friendship, and so Jade agreed to let her have one dinner alone with the boy. Inside, Jade was sure this was the beginning of the end, that Tori was slowly moving on from her to a better choice of lover. But the goth wouldn't deny Tori a shot at happiness, no mater how much it hurt.

Unbeknownst to either of the girls, David agreed with Trina, that while dating Jade had been a major gamble, it had paid off big. Jade would be shocked to know that Trina was against Tori being with anyone else. Moreover, Trina was very aware that Jade was responsible for them reconnecting, both her with her sister, and both of them with the family. Trina was very aware of how Jade was making Tori happy, and slowly becoming one of the goth filmmakers supporters. Given that information, it would have surprised people to learn that Trina didn't have any objections to this party, in fact pushing Tori to reconnect with her friends. The reason was simple, Trina was and remained one of Cat's friends, albeit as distant as Tori, so she was able to finagle an invitation to the party for herself. In fact, the petite girl had welcomed Trina with open arms. So the night of the party, Trina was secretly ready, and had let her father in on only a part of her plan. She was going to protect Tori's marriage, even as her sister rebuilt her support system.

"How is it we're going together, when I can't even take my wife?" Tori asked her sister on the phone, She knew it was happening, it had come up a few days earlier while arraigning how they'd get to the event, but Tori still had no idea how Trina even knew about the party.

"Simple, Cat and I are still in contact, and she told me about the party." Trina said. "I'm guessing she feels that maybe I got a raw deal in school, and wanted me there with her. Just, after you drop Jade off with dad, come and get me. This evening is gonna be full of surprises. I'll see you when you get here."

Tori hung up, and walked back to where her dad was standing next to Jade, just outside his home. "You guys ready to do this?" She asked.

"Now Tori, I'm doing this for you." David told her, walking the girl a few paces away from her wife. The next part wasn't for Jade. "I mean, yea, Jade and I, we're slowly getting along, more and more, and that girl has a hunger to know how things work. But the real reason I'm doing this is both you and Jade need friends around you. Unfortunately, Soft Touch, as much as they support Jade, won't be able to be her friends for too much longer. As she becomes legitimate, they will slowly shift from the friendly employers who want to help her career, to investors who want a return on their money. While they will continue to mouth friendship, it's a whole new relationship. No, Jade needs friends, real friends, before her next film is done, cause we both know she's gonna make it. Then, far too many of her friends will be fake."

Tori just agreed, thanking her father for his concern, and hoping the night goes smoothly. "Just make sure she has a good time. And more importantly, that she doesn't think about what I might be doing." Tori instructed he father.

"I'll try, but is that a realistic request?" He asked, smiling his best consolatory smile. Tori couldn't answer, instead giving him a kiss on the cheek, then slipping back to give Jade yet another kiss, reminding her girl she loved her.

So Tori walked up to her sisters apartment, nervously wondering if this was the right choice. 'Trina was so good during the spa day, it makes me wonder if maybe she's really changed, or if she wants something. I'll bet she wants something...' Her hand was shaking as she stopped in front of the door. 'I'm gonna have to deal with her being there, just like I'm gonna have to deal with what they think about Jade. I don't know if I can do it. I mean, I let my friends insult Trina for years, and then, after I fell, and Jade was the only thing in my life, I took forever to let them know I was with her. Andre, who was and still is my best friend in the whole world, he's like the only one I told about us being married, and his reaction was to come over and see if I was okay. The first time he bothered to come check up on me, and it was after I let him know I was with Jade. Can I do this?'

Tori had reached out, over the last few moths, through social media. Several of her friends had written her, on Facebook or similar sights, but they had all kept it minimal, not sharing too much about themselves. Even Andre, who'd rushed to check on Tori as soon as he knew she was with Jade, had to do some work to get her address. Cat, her most open friend, had been pressuring her for a visit for a while. Only, for whatever reason, Cat hated Jade, and Tori was terrified of how her wife would react to Cat rejecting her. 'I mean, Andre hurt her, and she spend hours on the floor. I may have to hire her an assistant, someone to look after her for times when she gets knocked down like that. Or maybe, I find a way to fix things between her and Cat. Yea, thats the goal, fix things between her and Cat.'

"Yo, Tori, you ready?" Trina asked, drawing Tori out of her inner monologue. The older girl was dressed in an understated green sleeveless dress, all simple lines, accessorized with a little jewelry, a belt, and her purse. It was a simple, yet stunning image the older girl left, and she smiled as her sister took the whole look in. "So, what do you think of the outfit?"

"You look good." Tori admitted. It felt like the first time she could honestly say that in a long time, what with the many jokes her friends made about her sisters body. It was odd, in that as hypercritical as girls could be with one another, Jade had never once accused her sister of being fat or unattractive, just unpopular. 'It was the guys.' Tori realized. 'It was always the guys.'

"You ready for this?' Trina asked, guiding her to the car.

"Yea." Tori assured her.

"You sure?' The older girl asked again. "I mean, I have my own news, if you want me to give them something else to talk about."

"Maybe..." Tori said, not sure if she liked the idea of Trina stealing her spotlight, even if her news was something bad. "Can you tell me what your news is?"

"You know that guy I've been seeing?" Trina asked.

"Malcolm? Yea, nice enough guy, if a bit weird." Tori said, quickly adding "I mean, weird in a good way. So secretive... But, if you trust him, and he opened up to you, then maybe..."

"Malcolm is just my cover boyfriend." Trina confessed. "I've really been seeing Sinjin." Trina gave a short pause for effect, maybe Half a heartbeat. "And, get this, I'm ready to marry him."

"Has he asked you yet?" Tori asked, trying not to sound to cynical.

"He knows not to deny me anything." Trina assured her. "Actually, and this was a blow to my ego, he was depressed when he found out that both you and Jade were taken. But yea, he asked, months ago, and I got him to agree that I would say yes, but not until I was ready to go ring shopping. But, as you know, he's rich, and our babies will have everything."

"Glad to know you got your priorities straight." Tori said while rolling her eyes.

"Like I said, once he knew there was no other, he was quick to grab what he could." Trina assured her sister. "And, when you get past the creepy factor, he's decent guy. Plus, and I can't believe this turns me on, he can set up electronics. Like, anything electronic. In fact, our first time, he set up my stereo, like able to work with a home theater and my computer on the flat screen and everything, and I just lost it. I took him right there, in that room, with the weather channel blaring in the background."

"The weather channel?" Tori asked.

"I changed the channel." Trina confessed. "There are some things you don't do in front of Pat Sajak."

"I understand." Tori said, but she didn't.

"So, I'll let them know about me and Sinj, just about the time I feel their ready to know." Trina assured her sister. "So go tell them about your happy marriage to that psychopath. Let them know your happy, and on your way to that success you've been chasing since you copied me, back in high school."

"Thanks." Tori said, smiling at her sister. They'd walked to Trina's car, mostly because Tori wasn't a good driver. After all this time, and Tori finally getting her license, only Jade was willing to ride with her. Most of the other people she rode with regularly preferred if they, or just about anyone else, drove. The last hint was when people in her family suggested that Trina drive places, just to keep the police happy. Tori wasn't amused. "So, we'd better get going, cause I don't want them talking about Jade without me present."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you can quietly agree with them after the fact." Trina teased. "But don't worry, big sister will be there."

Tori glared at Trina the entire drive to Beck's new place, where the party was being held. They arrived, and Trina whistled at the place. "So, what can you tell me about them that I don't already know?" She asked.

:}

Little longer this time. But Andre is slowly coming around. He just has his own issues to face. He blames jade for everything that happened to Tori, even as he admits thats not even possible. Gonna take him some time to accept he was blaming Jade, so he can forgive her.

Jade gets to ride along with the police, while her wife is out on what she suspects might just be a date. Guilt can cause you to hurt yourself in a lot of ways. Jade's holding onto some major hurt. I'm hoping someone can step in, maybe help heal that lingering wound. Oh well, they both see counselors, so maybe one of them will have that revelation….

Say it with me, Cat hates Jade. Who has a guess as to why. I'm thinking, this time, no one is gonna guess it, but you never know. Just, as of this moment, as far as Tori knows, Cat hates Jade, and she's heard it from Cat herself.

Next time, I get to figure out what everyone's been up to since graduation. I wonder… Any guesses? Yea, I'm playing that game tonight.

Long notes, but hay, no one made you read them. You got this far, review. I'd love to read your thoughts. I'll settle for reading whatever you decide to write. Go on, you know you wanna.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious.

Warning, some of what's in this chapter may be triggering.

:}

The Vega sisters had arrived at beck's place, where the get together, or intervention, was set to take place. "So, what can you tell me about them that I don't already know?" She asked.

"Lets go over what we already know, and go from there." Tori suggested.

"Beck made it medium on Broadway, and only got himself an L.A. place cause he's now ready to break into the movies." Trina started. "There are a couple of plays he's been in that he hoped to reprise the roll on the big screen. He decided, according to Cat, to make this leap, cause it's possible to play a lot younger on stage, so he has heavy competition for the leads. Also, apparently, he has some money, cause look at that place."

"Bigger then Sinjin's?" Tori asked.

"A, no, and b, size doesn't matter nearly as much as how you use it." Trina shot her sister a quick smirk. "Shall we continue?"

Tori nodded. "Andre's now a behind the scenes player in the music industry, producing music for a short list of big names, as well as a longer list of nobodies." She said. "He makes an okay living, but is far from the top of his profession. Still, he's making it, slowly, and as the hits start to accumulate, his reputation grows, and he's getting to work with bigger and bigger names. I expect he's just a year or so away from working with the A list musicians. I also suspect he's also dating someone in the music industry. Don't know much about that, cause he likes to date around. Also, he knows about Jade, so if we're lucky, he's on my side."

"Our side." Trina corrected her. "As in you and Jade. He's always been on your side. It's Jade he's not so sure about. I suggest you remember that, cause she was the one who wouldn't take no for an answer."

"I'm the one who wanted to get married, and the one who suggested we could help each other." Tori whined.

"But she's the one who pushed you to go home, get mom and dad to use the resources they have to help you get past some of the shit you've been through." Trina reminded her. "And since your big fear is that they'll be tearing her down, I would remind you that she's the one who's always gonna be on your side. Remember that. The last thing I want is for you to get pressured into doing something stupid now, after things have turned around for you."

"Got it." Tori agreed.

"Robbie?" Trina asked, pushing forward.

"He's working behind the scenes too." Tori filled in. "He wound up working special effects for a couple of the other comedians he was trying to break in with, and before too long they had him producing their shows. He makes good money, has a lot of respect from the various guys and girls he works with, and is even under contract with HBO. I understand he is also helping them create shows, to compete with the various streaming services."

"Cat's been going to collage, working on her advanced degree. She's closing in on her PhD, as in doctor Valentine." Trina said. "She is studying Astronomy, and astrophysics, all while working as a children's television personality in a locally produced but nationally syndicated show. I think she said something about being the new Doctor Science. I guess that's her shows name, but can't be certain, cause I'm not really that into children's educational television. Who knew, right?" She stifled a laugh, watching her sister to see if the other girl thought it was funny. "Anyways, she's doing okay, but the money is secondary to the studies. Cat just likes knowing stuff, since she spent so much of her life basically being the ditz in the group. Turns out, she's able to study, understand, all that chiz. I suspect dating graduate students during her undergrad studies also helped."

"Cat's been involved with a list of guys, both in school and through the station that films her show." Tori added. "Right now, she's seeing some producer, television, and they live together in a really nice house."

"So, how many of the extra's are gonna be there?" Trina asked.

"Just us." Tori said. "Andre doesn't want a lot of distractions. Not now, when they're trying to either welcome me back, or it's possible this is an intervention…."

Trina laughed. "Look, Beck's place. It's nice." She pointed at the house where the thespian was now living. "Is Beck seeing anyone right now?"

"Don't know." Tori admitted. "I would hope so, since of the group, he's literally the only one who might try to take Jade away from me."

Trina nodded, understanding Tori's worry. In fact, she welcomed it. She had been watching the changes in Tori's life, and the things Jade had helped her through. Trina still didn't like Jade, not personally, not yet, but had to admit the goth pushed through on her projects. Tori was almost back to her old self, or rather her new self, since you cannot go back. 'Thats right, Tori, hold onto your goth. She loves you, is the best fucking thing that ever happened to you, and she's gonna be there for you long after any fair weather friends are long gone.' Realizing her sister may need some encouragement, Trina decided to say something. "You gonna let him?"

"No, but an I stop him?" Tori asked back.

"I'm thinking yes." The older girl said. "Cause you have something he doesn't. Jade was willing to go through hell for you. Never make her do that again, and I think she'll stick around. Now where the hell are we parking?"

They quickly found parking in Beck's extended driveway, since many large houses like it had wide driveways allowing cars to park for parties and such without blocking other cars in. Then, they made their was up the short path to the front door. Trina knocked without hesitation. "I really need to find out if Sinjin is welcome to these parties?" She asked, but before Tori could answer, the door opened and a man neither of them recognized was looking at them.

"May I help you?" He asked.

"Looking for the Oliver residence." Trina said without flinching. The man wasn't huge, but he had this intimidating quality about him that was off putting. His dark hair was just long enough not to be considered short, while still neatly styled. He dressed in a dark shirt and slacks. But it was his eyes, that thousand yard stare that said he'd been through stuff and barely made it back. It was a look that Jade sometimes had. Only, on this guy, it gave the impression that he could imagine horrible things, even do them, and it wouldn't change how he slept that night.

"And you are?" He asked. His voice wasn't so much deep as gravelly, with that almost whispering sound that some men had.

"Trina Vega, and this is my sister, Tori." Trina decided not to give her sisters current last name. If this was the right place, they wouldn't need it to get in. Instead, she braved the possibility that this was the right place, and this man had no reason to do anyone harm. 'Sides, I can take care of myself.'

"One moment." The man said, closing the door and presumably walking away. Moments later, he opened the door again. "This way, please."

They followed the man through the house and into the back yard, where Beck was barbecuing on one of those built in units that costs more then Trina had spent on her car. "Tori, glad you could make it. Trina, wasn't expecting you." He called out. Despite Trina's presence, he was smiling.

"Cat invited me." Trina said, walking up to see what he was cooking. "So, basic American fare?"

"You wouldn't believe how much I miss barbecuing sometimes." He said, not looking away from his meat. "I have burgers, chicken, Hot dogs, hot durgers, and tofu, both burgers and dogs. I've also made some corn, and beans, and I didn't know what else, so I deiced to do some ribs, both pork and beef. I hope you guys eat a lot, cause I over did it."

"Just what every health conscious girl wants to hear." Trina teased.

"Oh god, thats a lot of food." Tori said s she approached. She knew what it was like to go hungry, thanks to the lean years, but hadn't let her current security drive her to horde food. Unfortunately, Jade still did, sometimes, even though she was willing to share with her wife. 'Just more of her issues.' Tori thought as she looked around the back yard. They'd planned to be among the first to arrive, and it seemed like they'd succeeded. No one was there but Beck, his man, and them. "So, you got a butler?" She asked.

"I got a guy." Beck replied. "I don't know what to call him, other then Allen. I'm helping him straighten his life out, and he does things for me. Runs errands, entourage stuff. It's not that formal." He smiled at Tori. "I just needed to help someone. And I love the challenge. He's not the first I've helped, just the first to both work out, and want to stay a while. But hay, you're not here to find out about me. I'm an open book. You're here so we can find out how you've been doing."

"And Tori would like to hold off on her stories until she has a bigger audience, if thats okay." Trina chimed in.

"Suit yourself." Beck smiled, and got back to cooking.

Tori sat down in one of the chairs and waited, admiring Beck's patio furniture. Slowly the others arrived, with Robbie being the second to show up, a good ten minutes later. The nerdy boy strutted in with a familiar girl on his arm. Or at least she was familiar to Trina. "Courtney?" Trina asked.

"Hay Trina." The younger girl replied, smiling a toothy grin.

Robbie jumped in quickly. "I know, we're supposed to leave out significant others at home, but me and Cort, we've been together for about a year, so I felt this would be a good place to let everyone know we were together."

"What about Cat?" Tori asked.

"She's cool with it." Robbie replied. "I hope. I mean, we really don't talk that much. I just felt, we don't hang out that much, Cat and me. So I kinda moved on."

"She's seeing this producer guy now." Beck offered.

"Then I guess I made the right choice." Robbie was smiling. "So, since everyone knows Courtney, I figured this was as good a time as any."

"Lucky." Beck chimed in. "My last relationship imploded when her career took her one way, and mine took me the other."

"I heard her career led to her dating a bigger name in the movies." Trina said, smiling at the subtle dig. Tori also felt that dark moment of joy at how uncomfortable Beck looked.

'Back in school, Trina would never try something like this.' Tori thought. 'She may pretend to be dating him, but she never once tried to humiliate him, even a little.'

Beck, for his part, just chuckled. "My fault for dating someone who needed the fame. I just can't seem to learn, you can't change people." His eyes locked on Allen for a moment. "Okay, most people can't be changed. If your lucky, and you find them right when they need help, just that push, then sometimes they can change."

"Very diplomatic." Trina said, giving both men a smile. "So, who else is gonna be here, other then the listed guests?"

"Just you guys." Beck replied. "I kinda hoped to have one more, but I'm not in the position to reach them any more. That, and they might not wanna speak to me, ever again." He sighed, then focused on his guests again. "But, it's something I kinda owe them." Beck gave an apologetic smile to Tori, who immediately felt bad at enjoying his discomfort.

"Trina, I heard from Courtney that you and Sinjin were thinking of tying the knot." Robbie said as he approached Trina. "I just wanted to clear the air a bit, cause we're about to be family."

"Okay?" Trina looked around, hoping no one overheard. But Beck was watching this like a hawk, while Tori already knew.

"I'm the one who cut your gimbal, years ago, in Tori's play." He admitted, shifting nervously. "I've done other thing too, like stalking you, watching you and Tori from the bushes, and a couple of times I stole your underwear. I also had unauthorized cardboard stand-ins of Cat. I was as creepy as Sinjin appeared to be. Courtney helped me turn that chiz around, and before it got to the point where my life might be ruined by my antics. So, I guess I'm saying I'm sorry, and hope you can forgive me."

"Give me time." Trina said, looking just a hair paler. Tori got it. The older girl was laid up for a week after that fall, healing the bumps and bruises she'd acquired from the collapsing set. Further, both Trina and Tori knew that it could have been a lot worse. Trina could have died. Tori suspected the police would have looked a lot harder at the school, and the various people who were there before the play. Further, if the police couldn't find anyone else to blame, they'd have probably punished Jade, since she comes across as the most likely to have done something like that. A prank gone wrong. It drove a chill down her back, thinking of how bad things could well have been. Luckily, at the time, the school had decided to accept the idea that the equipment was old, and it was just an accident.

Trina, meanwhile, shifted to stare down the nerdy boy. "You realize the only reason I'm not planning on hurting you is that I believe that was the demented puppet who pushed you to do it."

"Rex is gone, kinda. I mean, he'll always be a part of me, but as I grew up, he kinda vanished from my life. But, I totally get it that your mad, and hope that some day, you'll be able to forgive me. Until then, I'm more then thankful that none of my pranks caused any permanent damage." He said, then made his way back to his girlfriend.

"You okay?" Tori asked.

"I'm wazzed, but impressed." Trina replied. "Boy manned up, had the huevo to admit his actions, and seek forgiveness. Also, he's gonna be on your side in this. He understands wanting to put his past behind him."

Tori nodded, unsure what else to say, then decided to check out the landscaping Beck's large yard had. By the time she'd finished her cursory look around, she figured the last members of her group would have shown up. They didn't keep her waiting long.

Andre and Cat showed up at the same time, maybe twenty minutes after Robbie. "Can you believe Andre was just sitting in his car?" Cat asked as she walked in. "Say, have any of you seen my show? It's all about science. And I get to sing, too." She broke into a few notes. "She blinded me with science, bing bing bing..."

"Yea, well, I had no idea if there was someone I wouldn't be comfortable seeing here." Andre filled in. "But it looks like it's okay, so, how's everyone been?"

"I've been good." Beck started. "I'm on a quest to help those who need it to reform, but might need some help finding their forgiveness. I'm sure you can all guess why." He gave a moment for that to sink in. "Anyways, I was dating this girl, had planned on moving in with her when we got to L.A., except she found a former child star with a good agent, and decided to move up the food chain." The Canadian glanced around to break up his speech. "I have money, can afford this place, and a lot of food. I may have overdone it on the barbecue. And oh yea, I wanted to invite Jade, but I don't have her contact info." He ignored the collective gasp that escaped most of the guests. "I mean, yea she made a movie thats getting a hella lot of buz, made some serious money, and it's not even out in video yet, so you'd think It'd just be a matter of getting the invite into the right hands, have it passed along. However, her production company's fairly small, she mostly deals with the studio between projects, and none of my contacts seemed to be able to get to her in the time we had pulling this whole event together.."

"She would have to apologize." Robbie offered.

"That goes without saying." Beck agreed. "I knew she would make it, and just wish she'd reached out to us instead. I mean, she should reach out, apologize. Especially Tori, who's been suffering from being Blackballed for these last few years. Jade kinda owes her. I was hoping that maybe she'd miss us, enough to come back, make her apologies, and help Tori out."

"No." Cat growled. An instant later, all eyes were on her. "I'm sorry, but she wasn't there when I needed her. The bitch can rot in hell for all I care. So yea Jade, she made a movie, scared the living crap outta people. That doesn't change the fact that she hurt people. I mean, really hurt people. People she was supposed to care about." For a second, the petite girls eyes seemed ready to tear up, only to harden a moment later. "Jade might as well be dead to me."

"Okay, I get your made at her." Andre said. "I totally get it. She hurt Tori, and then all that bad chiz happened to her..."

"And you weren't listening." Beck cut in. "Cat, you mentioned Jade wasn't there when you needed her."

"Don't say that name." Cat hissed.

"Cat, please, why are you so mad at J..her?" Tori asked.

"I said why." Cat said, giving a big sigh. "She wasn't there when I needed her. Specifically, When Sam left. You see, when Sam left, she left me with all the debts she'd racked up as part of our babysitting company, as well as other commitments. We had friends, but they were hers. I kinda distanced myself from you guys, cause… Yea. Anyways, I was also dealing with the trauma of being under her shadow, then suddenly being in the light again. I'd let her run things, so many things, and then, all it took was one call from this Carly chick in Seattle, and Sam was gone. I was yesterdays news."

"And Jade did this how?" Beck asked.

"Jade was a bitch to Tori, so she was kicked out of the group, and subsequently wasn't there to look after me like she used too. Like she promised too." Cat was standing, pacing, agitated, as old, painful memories flooded her. "I was left alone, trying to navigate the whole shit storm that came with dealing with the Sam part of my life leaving, but leaving behind her problems. I wound up losing my grandmothers apartment, the place where I was living. I had to spend money from my collage fund, cause we had debts. I wasn't able to do any of the things I used to love doing, cause I owed money, and I had people I was avoiding cause they had problems with Sam, and they knew I was close to her. All because Sam didn't bother to do some of the things she was supposed to do, and left me with debts that she shouldn't have acquired. And had Jade been there for me, maybe I'd have realized I had other ways out." She stopped. "Actually, Dice got most of the bad stuff removed, once he was involved. But I needed someone to hold me, help me through that shit, and I had no one. Jade was supposed to have been there for me, and she wasn't. I want her to suffer, to hurt, to understand what it was like when I was suddenly lost and without hope. I need her to hurt, so she knows what she did was wrong.."

Trina's voice cut through the tension filling the room. "Does getting raped while living in her car count?"

:}

So, I gave a taste of who's doing what. Beck has a lot of money for a guy who made it medium on Broadway. Thinking there might be a touch more to his story. I probably put too much energy into Allen, cause I don't see him doing much else in the future. But the others, I like where they are.

Review, tell me what you think. Was Cat a bit too angry? Is it right for her to blame Jade? And why didn't she reach out to any of the others? Also, a scientist, huh? Who'd have guessed, right? But now, how do we get her to forgive Jade? And did Trina do the right thing? Also, how the holy hell did Trina know that? Did Tori tell her sister? And does anyone (Beside me) knows what a hot durger is?

Review.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters.

Trigger Warning: Mention of Rape, homelessness, and related issues.

:}

Trina watched as her sisters friends seemed to be aligning against Jade. She knew, with Cat's hurt feelings, as irrational as they were, if something wasn't done soon, there was a risk that Tori might start falling into old habits, and side with the them again her wife.

Decision made, Trina's voice cut through the tension filling the room. "Does getting raped while living in her car count?" The whole room changed who they were looking at so quickly, it felt like they all should be suffering from whiplash. Everyone was staring at Trina now. Everyone staring except Tori, who's glare threatened to ignite her sisters dress. Trina had to pull back the smirk she felt at how upset her younger sibling currently looked and focus on the others. They needed more. "Yea, she suffered, a lot, and kept telling herself it was her fault."

They all wanted to say something, with Beck having the hardest time accepting that his one time love was hurt like that. But the others, each one was left feeling oddly angry at some unknown man, or Jade, or even Trina, because words didn't mean anything without some level of proof. Only, before that rage could take form, Trina was ready to explain.

"I know, your all wondering how I know this." Trina held them all with her story, knowing she had secrets even Tori didn't know. "Well, Jade and I are sometimes in the same circles, and we've spoken. Get this, she was the one who managed to get Tori and the rest of our family talking after my sister, who was trying to protect you from the Carsons, cut us out of her life. Yea, even me. So you want Jade to have suffered, she has. You want her to have done penance, she has. You wanted her to be here, that wasn't gonna happen, cause she knows she's not welcome. You see, the only person she owed an apology to was Tori, and they handled that a bit ago. And yes, she and Tori have spoken, a couple of times, so my sister is naturally wazzed that I'm telling you all so much about Jade's business. And oh yea, they're trying to find Tori a rout back into show business that will get around the Carsons blackballing her. Any questions?" Trina felt she had the high ground, and so her stance challenged them to say anything bad about her sister in law.

However, most of the eyes were now focused on Tori, curious about what else she'd been hiding. But one pair was still looking at Trina, filled with a mix of disgust and shame, only glancing at Tori long enough to see her eyes looking down. Andre realized it was his turn to speak. "Nothings ever simple with you Vega girls, is it." He said. He then let loose a big sigh as he decided to reveal another secret. "I went to visit Tori a short while ago, after she admitted something to me. See, she told me she was living with Jade, about to move into a big house with a view, where they planned on making a life together. I wanted to make sure things were on the up and up, cause we all know how sneaky Jade can be. However, this time, it was vengeful Tori who'd been sneaky, using Jade to get herself back. Thing is, turns out they'd pretty much helped one another out of their respective crappy lives. I didn't know about the rape, and I wouldn't have believed it if Jade told me. Not normally. But the look on Tori's face when Trina blabbed..." He gave a shudder. "I just know it's true. Sorry Tori..."

Tori felt the need to explain, to make them understand, but lacked the words. So instead, she just stated talking, hoping that some kind of explanation would find it's way out. "Jade was ready to die when we ran into one another, almost two years ago. Funny thing that, since her life was on the verge of a major upswing. Soft Touch Productions, makers of a lot of bondage porn, they believed in her talent, where letting her rent equipment at cost, even sold her a mobile home." Tori had started crying. "Me, I was desperate not to let Steven Carson's parents ruin me, so I made a lot of dumb decisions, slept with a couple of guys who just used me, and was ready to just give up. On everything"

Tori let her gaze carry the full impact of her intents. No one could doubt what she'd meant by giving up. "I ran into her at the restaurant I was working at, just before the Carsins bad reviews lost me yet another job. It was surreal, cause all she did was try to apologize, but I wasn't hearing it. Instead, I let her have it, and somewhere in our talk, in my letting her know just how crappy my life had become, I let slip my intents, that I was done. A-and she, she talked me down," a brief smile flashed across her face, turning to a grimace, "or tried to. I pulled a gun on her, and found her begging me to end her life. It confused me, cause I was so sure she just wanted me to hurt, like I wanted her too. Like I hurt her. But that comes later, cause at that point, she was asking, begging me to kill her, end her suffering. Only, I wasn't gonna let her off the hook that easily. So, we talked, agreed to help each other, and I demanded something to prove she was serious." Tori shook her head, focusing her scrambled thoughts on any point she could make. "I guess what I'm saying is, our second wedding anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks. Maybe, if you guys want to, we can have some kind of party, have you all over, and you can see who Jade is now."

Silence filled the room. The sudden and unexpected admissions had overtaken everyone. It was like, one moment, they were discussion things, people, and the next, facts and truths Tori hoped never to talk about again came pouring out. She didn't know where Trina had found out about the rape, but Tori hated her sister for telling everyone. At the same time, it changed the whole mood of the party. Everyone now knew how much Jade had been hurting, and maybe, maybe, there was a path forward to forgiveness. Still, Tori didn't like everyone knowing. It was like they'd betrayed her wife, and she let them, because she didn't know what else to do.

Cat looked at her friend, trying to process everything she'd just heard. "I still want my apology." The petite girl would not give up on feeling hurt, only now it was a vary different kind of hurt. Cat felt a new rage building inside, and knew, sooner or later, she'd have to let Jade know what she felt about this new bit of news.

"I'll see what I can do." Tori promised. She was holding herself, ashamed at how much had come out, and how hurt she felt. Inside, she wanted to run, find Jade, just hold the girl until the pain went away. 'No, it's time to face my mistakes.' She decided. Then a question brought her out of her misery.

"So, you and Jade, married?" Beck said, not sure where to go from there. Tori blinked twice as she processed the question, deciphering the simple words as she pulled herself back.

"It was a long road from her being the person I gave access to me and my records, maybe help make decisions if I could not, to us actually loving one another." She smiled at her own bad joke, only to sober up again. "I gave her hell before I was able to admit my feelings to her. But we're very much in love, and I'm gonna force her to have a normal, happy family. Hell, we have the home, might as well use it. I'll invite some of her friends from Soft Touch, some of her other friends, see where we are." Tori was making plans even as she spoke. 'Maybe a party is what she needs...'

"Me and Sinjin, we're getting married. We just haven't set a date yet." Trina tossed out.

"Then we'll make it an engagement party too." Robbie suggested. Inside, he was shocked to hear about his friend, but he also held much less anger towards her, so could let go and forgive much easier. 'Besides, we need to shift focus, or this whole party be stuck in a moment we really don't know much about.' He knew pain, and suspected Tori was already working on Jade's.

"This sounds like a disaster." Andre said, glancing at Beck.

Beck just shrugged, smiling at the others. "Maybe, but at least we'll all know she's all right, right?" It was a weak excuse, but Beck really did feel like maybe, he needed to talk to the pale girl.

"You're talking about Jade, right?" Tori asked. "Cause me, I'm not perfect, but I'm doing so much better now."

"I just want to know she's doing her part." Cat griped. "And get my apology."

Tori smiled, trying not to let herself fall into old habits. She didn't have to worry. Somehow, hearing what Jade had been through was enough to let them find some small measure of forgiveness for the pale girl. Tori, however, had to deal with a couple of questions. "Um, Tori, not that it's my business, but you and Jade, just how married are you?" Beck asked.

"Legally, why?" Tori asked back.

"Are you and her, maybe, intimate?" He asked.

"Funny, I'd have expected that from Rex..." Tori huffed. "But yes, I screw her brains out."

"It's just, I never saw her as, I don't know, gay." Beck pushed out.

"Why would that matter?" Cat asked, reminding him she was standing right there. "If being with a lying whore makes Tori happy, why the hell should we care."

"Cat…!" Trina warned.

"Okay! I get it." Cat waved the threat away. "And yea, given what we know about her, maybe it's wrong to call her a whore. But I still haven't forgiven her for not being there. She promise me, and I needed her. She knows, used to warn me, that I was too trusting. I know she took advantage of it, whenever she wanted." Her voice grew a bit angrier, filled with an old hurt. "So she should have thought about the consequences, all of them, of hurting Tori. Maybe, just maybe, then we'd have been there when things went sideways for her. I know, if she'd been my friend, I'd have happily let her live with me. Except, oh yea, I lost my place, had to live with friends for a while." She snapped the last part out.

"And I'll talk to Jade about that." Tori said apologetically, not noticing how Trina cringed, just a touch, at her promise. "I know, she hurt you, and I'm deeply sorry. I'm sorry I cut you all out of my life, but I had to protect you. Still do."

"I'm good." Cat said, her voice now much more relaxed. "The Carsons, they have a long reach, but my show, it's sponsored by Learning Live, and those people don't particularly like the Carsons. I could, maybe, get you a job as a production assistant. That is, if you need a job right now. I'd just have to be willing to take a risk, let them know why the Carsons hate you, and see if that's enough for them to understand why you were blackballed."

"Thanks Cat." Tori said, feeling loved for that moment. "But in all honesty, I really needed that two years ago. I doubt you were ready, back then, to have offered me a job. Were you?"

"No..." Cat sighed. "Did Jade really, really help save your life?"

"Probably wouldn't be standing here if she hadn't been willing to take the risk." Tori said.

"And Jade wouldn't be alive, riding along with your dad, if she hadn't." Trina added.

"So, Cat, can you find it in you to forgive her?" Andre asked. It was strange, because everyone knew Andre was the most upset at Jade. Of the group, he was the one who reacted the strongest, wanting Jade kicked out of Hollywood arts for her catfishing Tori. His defending her was enough of a shock to get them to listen to the whole tale.

"If she apologizes." Cat reaffirmed. "To me, to Tori, to all of us. She hurt us, no mater what we might pretend, and she owes us all an apology. Once she does, then maybe I can forgive her."

The others all looked at the small girl, wondering what they should think. "Agreed." Beck said.

"Um, Tori, could you maybe do me a favor, and ask Robbie a couple of questions. Since I'm with Sinjin, I feel I may be too close to his situation to find out for sure if he's gonna treat Courtney right. So, could you go speak with them?" Trina asked. She almost slipped into her cutesy stance, the one she reserved for asking for favors, like when she was asking older kids to buy her alcohol, back in school.

"Sure." Tori said, before walking over to speak with the only actual couple present that evening.

As soon as the three walked out of the room, to have a private moment, Trina opened up. "Okay, I get it, Tori is gonna take your side. I saw it, lived with it, and the only two of you who ever tried to make things right were Cat, who was willing to be anyone and everyone's friend, and Jade, who moved mountains to be there for me as a part of her penance with Tori. So Cat, why the hell didn't you even think of asking me for help? I was your friend. Of all of Tori's friends, you were the only one who bothered to be mine. So naturally, I was yours, and would have helped. You saw what I was willing to do for Tori, right?"

"I said as much." Cat huffed. "Look, Trina, you have to understand, or maybe you don't, but my relationship with Jade wasn't as, uuuhhh," she hesitated, glancing at Andre and Beck, both of whom were standing right there, "shallow as Andre or Beck's was. We had a deeper relationship."

"Deeper?" Beck asked. His face showed his surprise that anyone would claim to have a closer relationship with Jade. "You forget, I knew all her secrets."

"First, no you didn't. Even I didn't know all of them." Cat countered. "And second, she was my sister. Okay, maybe not by birth, but it was how close we'd been, at times. I always forgave her for being a mean, bossy grunch, and she always forgave me for my many, many slip-ups."

"After getting even." Andre pointed out.

"Jade and I were complicated." Cat shot back, as if that explained everything. "The point is, she should have sought forgiveness from me. I..." Cat took a deep breath, centering herself before continuing. "I never wanted her that hurt. I just wanted her to suffer a bit, enough to know how Tori felt. Homeless, thats fine, cause she could have sought me out, asked my forgiveness, and moved in with me."

"Except you lost your home." Andre pointed out.

"And I know it wasn't really her fault, but I needed her, back then, to tell me it wasn't mine. That Sam had managed to seem like such a good friend and business partner, that I assumed she'd continue to protect my interests." Cat took another deep breath, her eyes letting them know she had more to say. "She did, at first, watch over my interests like Jade used too. Not always there for me, always seeming like she was in it for herself, but in the end, I was protected. But Sam, she was street smart, but not good with economics."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Andre said. "But why didn't you come to me, or go to Trina? Why didn't Robbie have you knocking at his door, asking for a place to stay?"

"Trina, cause I didn't trust her enough." Cat said. "Sorry Treen, but it's true. I didn't, not then. Maybe now, cause I can see that you're not the selfish person I always thought you were. As for Robbie, or You, Andre, or even Beck, I didn't have your contact information. I kinda let myself loose it after high school, cause I was majorly wazzed at the lot of you guys." Tears started to form in her deep brown eyes. "I… I missed Jade, and it wasn't just her fault, but also yours. You guys said we had to kick her out of the group, so after high school, I didn't have a reason to stay in contact with any of you anymore." She took just a second to gain control, banishing the tears from he eyes. "And Robbie, I legitimately lost his contact information in a laundering accident. I kinda forgot to take my cell phone out of my pocket, cause I knew I'd find it the next day anyways. But Sam, she asked one of our friends to do the laundry, cause she hates doing hers, and my cell phone wasn't washing machine safe."

"Oh..." Beck said.

"I guess it was for the best." Trina said, smiling a weak smile. "I mean, your happy, he's happy, so that worked out. I do kinda agree with you about Jade maybe owing you an apology. I was just as pissed at Tori for not coming to me for help, back when she was at or near her lowest. I owe Jade so much for taking care of her, it hurts."

"I'm sorry for not trusting you, Trina." Cat said, her old sweet self showing up for a second. "But thats water under the bridge. I need to speak to Jade, as soon as possible, and without an audience. I need to set things straight with her. Let her know that I wanted her to suffer, but not what she suffered. I..." Cat looked lost, for just a second. "I just need to reconnect. Can you arrange that for me?"

"Sure." Trina agreed.

Tori was making her way back to the other. "Everything all right?" She asked.

"No, but it will be." Trina told her sister. "And for the record, if your ever hurting, you'd better at least try to get in contact with us, your family, so we can help you. If not, I won't be so forgiving. Now, reconnect with your loser friends, so we can finish up and I can get home to Sinjin."

"Never in my life thought I'd hear Trina saying that." Beck chuckled. "Honestly, I doubt I expected may girls to say that about Sinjin."

"And thats why your wrong." Trina chided the actor. "I'm a woman now, all grown up and mature enough to see past his flaws."

"And he's good at setting up stereo equipment." Tori added.

"What was that?" Trina glared at her sister. "That was between you and me, not them."

"Well, then tell me who the chiz told you about Jade being raped?" Tori demanded. "Lord knows I didn't. I barely reconnected with you. I hope that Dad will understand, and I'm waiting on telling him, because I need Jade to feel safe with us before I even broach the subject. So how the holy chiz did you find out?"

:}

Honestly, I'm not deliberately choosing to end on cliff hangers. It just happens that way. Besides, not much of one this time. Just Tori wanting to know where Trina got her information. So hold on, true believers, cause next time, we find out.

We got a bit more about Cat here, a deeper look at why she was so hurt. it's not that she blames Jade for what Sam did. In a way, she doesn't even blame Sam, cause she knows that Sam wasn't good at the stuff she let the other girl handle. No, Cat's upset because Jade was her family, the rock she used to rely upon, and when things went wrong, Jade wasn't there to help her through it. Cat's hate is the dark backside of a deep sisterly love. So, yea, they have issues that will need to be addressed.

Andre made his decision, and that's good. Helped out loads. He may not have forgiven Jade, but he's getting there. Tori needs her best friend.

Beck, let it go. Jade's gone, Tori's gone. Both girls found someone else. Let your past go.

So, what'd you think? Review, and let me know. Maybe, just maybe, you understand Cat better here.

My favorite line from this chapter, Cat saying her relationship with Jade wasn't as shallow as Beck's.

So, review.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious. Nor do I own any major holidays. Sometimes, life just isn't fair.

Warning: I have no idea what may be triggering, but since Rape is mentioned, you've been warned.

:}

Tori glared at her sister, trying to understand how she knew about the rape. "So how the holy chiz did you find out?"

"Has it occurred to any of you to ask me what I do for a living now?" Trina asked. "I'm gonna help Sinjin with his companies public image, public relations, and I had to learn it somewhere. Turns out, to really learn this chiz, a collage degree really doesn't prepare you nearly as much as a good internship. So I was working with a public relations firm, helping out with the clients, learning the trade, when I ran into one of Jade's work buddies from Soft Touch. And let me tell you, this guy was a perve. Not like most of the adult actors I've dealt with, who can be so nice despite what they do for a living. No, this guy was so self centered, believed he was a god in bed." She shook her head, focusing on her goal. "But he told me stuff, trying to get into my pants. Jade's name came up, and I wanted to know more, cause I can hold a grudge too. So he told me chiz, then introduced me to the others at Soft Touch, and got them to tell me even more. Like, they told me about the day they, the managers at the film company, had decided to sell Jade the RV trailer. They explained how they'd found out she'd been raped, and so they did what they could for her. See, one of the actresses who worked for the company, a girl who kinda knew Jade by the way, she'd been the one to find her and take her to the hospital. Girl told management, explained why Jade would miss a day of work, so they knew. The producers, they all knew. They helped her, as much as they could, and in return, she helped them with editing, effects, all that production chiz. Every decision they made around her was, to their mind, mutually beneficial, but some of the guys in the know were a bit loose lipped, so I found out and stepped in. I was the one who told the actors who knew, hell the whole company, to keep it to themselves. This wasn't a public relations banaza, but an opportunity to help someone. At the time, it was the best move for the company. That, and hell, I started to feel sorry for her..."

"So you knew about the rape from before Tori and Jade were together?" Andre asked.

"Yep." Trina replied. "And get this, the actresses, they felt better working at that place, with all it's bondage and pain shit, cause they'd heard how Jade had been hurt, and the company was there for her. Rumors, gotta love how they fly, even when you think no one would care. But the girls liked that the company did want to help Jade." Trina's face soured. "Course, it would have been hella better if they'd insisted she see a professional, but like most businesses, they're after their own best interests, and Jade was a commodity. Therapy would help her move on sooner. Let me tell you, after Tori and her were together, and my sister told me about the gun incident, I let them have it. They weren't too happy she was so willing to die. Guess it's part of the reason they're taking the gains they got, and helping her with her film company."

Cat was watching the two sisters talk, waiting. "Tori, Jade knows Trina knows." The petite girl said. "Think about it. I mean, really, think about all of it. Yea, I invited Trina to this quicky get together, cause of the lot of you, she's the one I've met for lunch with. The rest of you, you talk on the phone, but didn't make the time. And yea, my show uses her former PR firm, so we'd been in touch for a while. Thats all beside the point. Thing is, Jade never once came up, cause Trina knows how to keep a secret. So I'm guessing she talked to Jade, asked her, and let us know that Jade's even more damaged cause she felt she had too. And that doesn't let her off the hook."

"Jade wouldn't want you guys to know." Tori said. "She, um, she is still such a private person. She never even told Beck about the guy who'd molested her when she was younger, so why tell him about getting raped?"

"Cause she doesn't believe you guys could think less of her." Trina admitted.

Beck chimed in with "Molested?" No one seemed to hear. His face, already covered in shock, grew even darker.

Trina ignored him, continuing. "I was supposed to hold that bit of intel off, not use it unless my announcement wasn't enough to pull them off of you." She gave a quick, weak smile to her sister before rounding on the others. "But I know how you guys are, how you can turn Tori here, to the point of not even defending her own sister against being insulted for, and I still can't believe this, for being around when you were hanging out in our home." Trina was now glaring about at everyone still near. "Think about that, you're taking over our living room, and yet you're upset if I'm around? How does that work? How does that even work? So anyways, Jade saved my poor, damaged sister, got her to come home, be in contact with her mother, who's so far off I don't even talk to her as often as Tori does now. And she got Tori here to visit our dad, help him to fight his way back out from behind that desk and onto the streets, into one one the most prestigious units in the entire force. So yea, I was not gonna let you guys hear about Jade from Andre, and then pressure Tori here until she was ready to dump her marriage for whatever support you guys promise."

"Trina…?" Tori asked.

"Good thing you did that, then." Cat jumped in. "If we had hurt Jade, and later found out about the rape, maybe after she'd hurt herself even more, I'd have had a problem with everyone. I still owe Jade, and I'm gonna collect, but I need to repeat myself." She took in a breath, catching everyone with her eyes. "I never wanted her violated like that. So Trina, you make damn sure I get my one on one with Jade, so I can get this off my chest, maybe get my sister back."

"You'll have a chaperon." Trina said. "Me, or dad, or someone I trust. Other then that, sure. The sooner the better, cause Tori needs her friends."

"And Jade?" Beck asked. He felt strangly betrayed, over Jade never telling him about parts of her past. But he also understood, they were not Tori's friends. He was now Tori's friend. Part of him hoped Jade wasn't alone in the world. "She has friends, right? I know you didn't include us for a reason, so she has friends. She has to."

"She has some." Tori confirmed.

"But I'm not sure how long some of them will be around her." Trina added. "She buries herself in work, and family, too much. She needs friends."

"I think," Robbie jumped in, "That we've been talking about Jade far too much. I mean, I get it, you have to address the elephant in the room, and we have. But for now, I think we should all just take the time to talk about ourselves. Beck, your single right now, right?"

"I was missing what I had back in Hollywood Arts, and was hoping that either Tori, or Jade, would be able to rejoin the group, cause I know I can get along with either of them." Beck admitted. "Guess I need to keep looking." His smile was one of concession, accepting what was.

"Jade and Tori are fixing each other." Cat said. "And for the love of Dan, please just stop with the wounded doves. Look for a complete person, and risk building a relationship with someone who doesn't simply need you. You want a challenge, guess what, a real woman has layers, is a challenge. So stop looking for the girl who will love you for saving her, and find someone who you will love for her flaws. Trust me, they'll thanks you for that."

"Cat..." Andre started.

"Lots of dating experience here." Cat said. "I've kissed a lot of frogs, and have the warts to prove it. So yea, looking for the right guy, like Trina did, can make you a lot happier. And Beck, be proud of what a great guy you are, cause thats whats gonna keep you together."

"Says the frog whisperer." Courtney says, smiling.

"I hear you're an entomologist." Cat said to the younger Van Cleef

"Yea, it's one of my passions. But it's hard, cause as important as my job is, no one values it. If we didn't have the Van Cleef fortune, I might have had to work someplace pretty out of the way to even afford to live. As is, I'm finishing my degree at UCLA." Courtney explained.

They broke into talking, in small groups, about their different interests, what they'd been up too. For another hour they ate, talked, and enjoyed reconnecting. Courtney, it turned out, wasn't just studying insects, but was a biology major as well. Her work was in finding medicinal properties of various insects, and maybe a way to harvest those medicines to save human lives.

The others were mostly as Tori and Trina had discussed, with a touch of variance. Andre had his own band, recorded music, played venues, the works. But they were like a cut rate "Garbage", all people working their way up in the industry, but not yet considered hit makers. The band was almost a vanity project for the group of them, remembering when they wanted to be musicians instead of producers, engineers and song writers. A further hindrance was that Andre, like the others, tended to save their best music for their clients. The original songs they recorded and played were castoffs, stuff they'd put the effort into making for someone else, and wound up not being used. Despite that, they had an album out, self produced, and it was getting some small traction. Not a hit by any measure, it had already broke even, and now Andre was seeing a trickle of cash from his share of the profits.

Beck was exactly as described, save with a lot more money. Turned out one of the people he tried to help was a millionaire suffering from dementia. Beck helped the poor homeless man through a cold winter New York, helping him get medications and find his way back to his family. In gratitude, his family set up, or rather redirected, a trust fund for Beck that produced a million dollars or more per year. They were rich, and had means far greater then the family of a poor, sick homeless man would normally have. While looking for a way to reward Beck, they'd stumbled across a fund they'd forgotten about, mostly because it was hard for them to draw upon it for any reason. Yet, with the help of a friendly judge and the intent of rewarding Beck for his help, they were able to give the struggling actor an income more then sufficient for his needs. The only catch was he couldn't have his permanent address in the state of New York. Beck looked at his options of where to live, taking the condition as a sign of what to do next with his career, took that reward, added the savings he'd managed to amass, and moved back to California where he could now afford to rent big and live well. Beck was, however, still looking for work, more for the desire to play interesting parts then the cash. He was safe, and now wanted to build his career in acting, so he had become, lately, picky about what jobs he'd take.

They already knew a lot about Robbie. He and Courtney were doing strong, and her families money would keep them secure while he continued to work behind the scenes, in one of the faceless cooperate positions in the Hollywood entertainment machine. His goal was to become one of the faceless power players you'd only have heard of if you worked in the industry, in which case you'd better have met with him somewhere along the way. It was a strange joke to him that he may one day be as influential as anyone from Hollywood Arts, and yet never once have his face in the papers.

Cat had no surprises in her act, other then her strong need to prove she's smart while providing quality edutainment for the younger sect. Science was her god now, meaning her love of Fox News had become an ongoing rant at how these people were trying to ruin the world. "I mean, thats the great thing about science, you can argue all you want about how wrong something is, but once you use science to prove it, then all arguments are mute. Like sucking an egg through a milk bottle's mouth. It doesn't look like it'll fit, but you can set up the process, generate the vacuum, and the pressure sucks the egg down."

"Uuuhh…?" Tori tried.

"It's a physics trick." Robbie pointed out. "Used to be, you'd take a hard boiled egg, and using fire to create a vacuum in the milk bottle, you could have the egg get sucked into the bottle. Look it up on splashface."

"Um, sure." Tori agreed.

Despite Cat's new view of her one time strongly held beliefs, everyone had a good time, enjoying the company, and thankful that Tori had options now. "You know, maybe I could talk them into letting me have an assistant?" Cat suggested. "Not that I don't want you working with your wife. I just, I wanna help you."

"Lets see what Jade thinks." Tori suggested.

"Like I care what that bitch thinks." Cat scoffed. "Sorry, habit. I do care, and I want her back in my life. It's just, you already know what I need her to do. But, hay, you could be on television, entertaining small children with the wonders of science. Just, you won't be allowed to be squeamish. I do a lot with insects. Well, I like to do episodes around the natural world, from time to time."

"Lets see what Jade thinks." Tori said, but inside, she was feeling hopeful that maybe Cat could get her on television again, and that alone was worth taking the risk. 'I just don't wanna lose Jade in the process. I mean, even now, knowing as much as she does about what Jade went through, Cat's really mad at her. I just don't want to hurt jade, but television... That could change everything. I've heard, getting your name credited someplace, that can get your ass off the blacklist. Maybe, just maybe.."

It was a little later when the first of them bowed out. Robbie and his girl had to leave early because of commitments he had the next day. They said their goodbyes, and Courtney gave Cat her card, promising to stay in touch. Cat was sold, it seemed, on having an assistant for her show, and Courtney knew a LOT about insects.

Tori, as much as she'd enjoyed talking to everyone, found she had to be part of the second group to leave. Trina was gonna take her back to where her car was, then drive out to meet up with Jade. Tori wanted to be there, wanted to warn her wife about Cats issues, but Trina insisted this would go much more smoothly if Tori wasn't in the middle of them.

"Tori, look, to them, your the victim." Trina tried to explain. "Jade's still the bad guy. I saw the progress, saw how they opened up, and still, we know that when she does meet with them, there's gonna be conflict. Cat, in particular, holds a grudge."

"I can't believe Cat feels so strongly." Tori said, looking out the window of her sisters car. "Just, she wants the best for Jade, and for Jade to suffer. How the holy chiz does that work?"

"It's family." Trina tossed out. "Family is always complicated. With a family, you try to step into the middle of a fight, and find both parties looking at you, ready to throw down. And they think their protecting each other. It's kinda like that. Cat wants to help you, but at the same time, I'm worried that she wants to hurt Jade. Better to let me talk to her, fill her in on what happened. That way, I can avoid little tells that your wife will see, like how you slipped up, took sometimes contradictory sides, and BTW, you did that more then once. I swear, for a moment there, I was worried that you'd flipped, and now you were against Jade. Trust me, when the smoke clears, we both know she'll be there for you. The question is, are you willing to be there for her? If yes, then let me be the one dealing with the whole Jade and Cat drama."

"I suppose so." Tori said, then whining out "But I wanna be there for her."

"You'll have to trust me to do whats right." Trina insisted.

"You don't even like Jade." Tori snapped.

"But I love what she's done for you." Trina countered. "Me and her, we have a ways to go. But now, I could care less about Beck, so that issues out of our way. Just a lot of history between us now. Then again, same thing could be said about most of your friend."

"Yea, I guess." Tori sighed. 'I guess Trina does owe Jade something, enough to want to help. For my sake. Not the best news for Jade, but it'll have to be enough.'

:}

So, a bit more on Cats relationship, as well as more on what everyone else has been up to. Beck got so lucky, and has the money not to care what he does, so why not risk Hollywood?

Everyone knows about the band Garbage, right? With the exception of Shirley Manson, all the members were in production or writing music when the band was formed. It was almost a vanity project for them. The more you know.

Not expecting you to like anyone here, but I do have respect for Robbie, who knew it was time to off from the subject of Jade and enjoy the party.

So Trina's in Public Relations. Guess that fits her. She's always thinking up ways to promote herself. PR's just an extension of that.

So, review. I let me know what you think of everybody. Also, what could Cat want from jade, beyond an apology? And why might she be holding onto that one thought? Guessing we'll find out, in a bit.

Next time, we get to see Tori thinking about the past. Won't be as bad as it was for Jade.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own victorious or any of it's characters. I make no profit from this.

Warning: covers issues such as rape, self harm, and some people who are just not nice.

There was no alert for last chapter. May not have been one for this one. I'd appreciate a review, if you haven't had the chance t let me know what you thought of chapter nine.

:}

Tori got home, making her way into the apartment and onto the couch. But the room, with the single light on, somehow it bothered her. Tori simply turned her back to the light, focusing her attention out the window and into the darkness beyond. "Jade's out there, with Trina, going who knows where to confront Cat. I should be with her. I should protect her, like she protected me..." Her voice echoed in the small room, even as her mind started to drift back, skating through memories shrouded in regret. It was her turn to sit at home, alone, lost in her memories. For the singer, it wasn't the desperate times where she started doing whatever, even offering her body, for that shot at the limelight that drew her in so much as the painful times she'd spent post marriage. More specifically, post Jade admitting she loved her.

'Gods I was so selfish. I mean, how many nights did I sit there, after we'd fucked each other silly, and just watch her sleeping? Too many times. I'd just sit, watching her, waiting for... I don't know. I was hoping, praying, that Jade was strong enough.' A tear formed, slowly making it's way down her tanned cheek, laying a track for the next one to follow. 'I said to myself, over and over, that Jade was strong. She was okay, could take things the way we had them. Only I was lying, and I knew it. I knew I was fucking lying, so I'd promise myself, "soon." I promised that soon, I'd tell her, let her know that I cared for her. That I wanted her. And, and I told myself, if she did do something dangerous, like take the gun and try to end it, then I'd have the truth, my feelings, that I could use to disarm her. I'd Tell her I cared, that maybe I did love her, and use that to talk her down.' Her face contorted into a dark frown. 'Of course, the fact that I was hurting her didn't matter, cause I refused to accept that I cared. Only, hello, lying... I felt it every time I thought that maybe, maybe her life was on the line, or when I believed she was so close to that edge that if she breathed wrong she'd come tumbling down. And how many... How many of those moments did I imagine while laying next to her? Too many. And I always promised myself, if something happened, I'd be there for her. I'd take care of her. But I waited, let her suffer, a slow, agonizing death. I stopped it, in time, but what if I had been too late?' Tears flowed more freely now, but she didn't care. She had her own mental journey to complete.

Jade had suffered for eight months after confessing her love for Tori. The Latina could see, in her mind, every time that she'd held that over the pale girl, every tainted victory she earned using the goth's feelings against her. How Jade would get angry, frustrated and hurt and ready to lash out, but she would back down, let Tori have that victory. At the same time, a small pang of guilt would sound deep inside Tori, cause she could see just one more piece of Jade chip way. 'I swear, it felt like all I was gonna have left was a cutout, just a hollow shell of the girl I'd known in high school. And yet, I was so angry at the world, at everyone, that I just took it out on her.'

She thought of the first time she'd caught Jade playing with the strong box, running her hands across it absentmindedly. The memory formed so clearly in her mind, playing back like judgment for her sins.

 _Jade was talking to someone she worked with on the phone. "No Dick, I'm not interested I acting in one of your productions, so if someone doesn't show, you'll have to find a different person to do the scene."_

" _Good girl." Tori said as she walked past. The words had almost the same tone, the same continence, that one would use when giving a dog praise for the most minimal task, like getting off the couch when ordered. However, despite the hurtful tones, Tori's mind was drawn to how close Jade's hand went to the lid of the strong box. 'Dad's therapy is working, he's getting better. He told me they're even talking about letting him go back on the street. Maybe he can store that thing at his place now?'_

 _Tori had her reasons for wanting the gun gone. She had recently realized things at Jade's work were getting even more stressful. The Latina wanted to blame someone else for the pain Jade had been going through, and found a ready choice in Richard Masters, the new producer working at Soft Touch._

' _He wants her.' Tori thought. 'He wants her, it's so obvious in the way he speaks to her. Plus, from what Jade said, he honestly believes that girls who act in pornography are just a step away from prostitutes.'_

 _Tori had no idea that Dick, as his friends called him, did believe that porn actresses were essentially hookers, and once a girl does porn, it's only a matter of establishing the price, and you get whatever you want. Thats why he wanted Jade to do scenes for him. It was his first step in a plan to essentially buy her as his lover for a while. But while Tori didn't know for sure, she suspected, and that was reason enough to try and block his moves. Tori would make sure it never got to the point where he just had to negotiate the price to make Jade do whatever he wanted, for as long as he could afford to pay her price. Because, even Tori knew, if he did that, broke Jade to the point where she sold herself, there was a part of Jade she'd never get back, and she wanted that part. She wanted the closet romantic that was so in love with her. If Jade sold herself, there was a potential that she'd stop linking sex, if freely given, and love, thus possibly growing away from the cold Latina._

' _Well, mister Dick Masters, my girl isn't gonna be on her knees, getting fucked by anyone expect me. You don't get to choose who she fucks, and you certainly don't get to watch. Jade's mine! And mister, I even if I did share, it wouldn't be with a jerk like you.' Tori seethed as she thought about her next move._

 _Tori took a deep breath, debating what she was gonna do. 'The guys at Soft Touch, they agreed with me, about Jade not doing scenes. After I had Jade talk to them, they agreed. Hell, they believed it before, that she's far too valuable a commodity. They know, now and in the future, that she's far to valuable for to them to waste as talent when she can be editing and post productioning their movies, making them money. No, until Jade's a filmmaker, with her own label, they'll do better having her work in production then screwing some person for the camera. And, and they know it, they acted on it, so they know. And if they know, then mister Dick Masters has to know. But it's like he wants Jade as his own little sex puppet. That has to stop. I'm gonna stop it, stop him. And the first step is getting that gun the hell out of here.'_

 _Tori knew her next move. She pulled out her phone, and while Jade was otherwise occupied, made a call. "Gary, it's Tori. I need a favor."_

" _What can I do for my god daughter?" The police officer asked. "Are you looking for a job in public relations? I suspect the police could use some people."_

" _I need a favor." She repeated. "Thing is, my wife, Jade, she's losing it. I mean, pressure at her work, and her history, god I wish I could talk about that, but it adds up, and she's starting to lose it. Thing is, there's this guy, a producer at Soft Touch, and he's been pressuring her, making suggestions, keeping it just shy of harassment. She acts like it's okay, but I can see, it's getting to her. With everything else, it's getting to her, ad she's losing it. So, what I need," She took a moment to focus, get past her growing fear, "I need dad's gun out of here. Just for a bit, just until she's rid herself of the prick pressuring her at work. I need it out of here, so I can stop worrying about her maybe doing something stupid with it."_

" _Given her love of sharp objects, do you really think getting rid of the gun will be enough?" Gary asked. "If she wants to hurt herself, she has a lot of options. We can't lock up every bridge and overpass, you know."_

" _I can take care of the rest, but the gun, it's too quick, to final." Tori swallowed. "I- I just don't want her next act of self harm to be the fatal one."_

" _So what exactly do you want me to do about it?" Gary asked. "I could drop by her work, maybe talk to this guy."_

" _No, I can't let her know I'm worried about this. You know how stubborn she can get." Tori told him, unconsciously twirling her hair, like she did every time she was hoping no one called her on her half truths. "I just want the gun gone, while she's away, at work. So why don't you come over after she heads out tomorrow and I'll give you the gun box."_

" _No, Tori, keep the box, I'll bring something to put inside it." Gary said. "That way, Jade won't realize you guys don't have the gun."_

" _But if someone breaks in, she might go for the gun instead of calling the police." Tori warned._

" _The odds of someone breaking in are low." Gary explained. "And the odds of the gun making a difference are even lower. I'm sorry, but statistics have proven that the gun won't help you, cause a responsible gun owner like yourselves will have it in a gun locker, and by the time you get it out, if the intruders are intent on hurting you, you'll already be in danger. And if you don't have it in a safe place, the odds are much higher that one of you will use it on the other, like in a fight, or a case of mistaken identity. How would you feel if she was sneaking in, and you accidentally shot her, fearing she was trying to break in? So no, I'll take the gun, but leave you the peace of mind in having the strong box."_

" _I could have lived without the lecture." Tori said. Then she sighed. "See you tomorrow. I appreciate you doing this for me, for dad, for all of us."_

" _See you tomorrow, kid." Gary said._

 _The next day, the gun found it's way out of the house, to a locked gun locker in a police firing range, where it would wait for officer Vega to be ready to reclaim it, once he was strong enough. Tori made sure that the gun was gone, all it's components, but the gun box was back where it belonged. Then she did something about Jades few pairs of scissors. The expensive once, those Tori locked up in the strong box, cause it felt like the thing to do. The others were put away, but Tori kept her eyes on where the scissors were at all time. "Jade, dear, I just wanted you to know, no carrying scissors any more. You can carry them again once I'm through this part of my therapy, okay? And don't worry about safety. I'll just make sure the security guard at your studio keeps an extra close eye on you. You'll be safe, okay? We'll make sure your safe." She'd practiced that line for hours, trying to make it about herself. Tori knew, at that moment, her claiming she felt uneasy was the safest way for her to get Jade to agree. 'Use her love against her, but at least it's for her own good. This time.'_

 _It wasn't the first time Tori went out of her way for Jade's safety, just the first time she'd gone to that extent. Tori started worrying, more and more, about Jade's state of mind, until she had to do more then just sit by and watch Jade slowly go crazy. "Jade, I need to work. Maybe you can get me something at the studio where you do all your work?"_

" _You wanna do porn?" Jade asked._

" _HEAVENS, NO!" Tori exclaimed. Her hand was on her heart, but the big thing Tori noted was how real it felt. This wasn't an act, she was honestly against doing pornography. "I was thinking, maybe, makeup?"_

" _You're not as good as Cat." Jade pointed out. No malice, just a cold, hard fact. Even Tori could tell, after all the time they'd been together, that Jade was just telling her the truth. But she had her card all ready to play, and didn't need to get worried about being offended._

" _And you don't have Cat." Tori shot back. "Let me work. Makeup, set design, whatever. Just something so I'm bringing in an income."_

" _We're doing okay." Jade said. "Besides, that stuff, it's all contract work. Maybe you might want something more steady, like office work? I'll ask around, see what we have."_

" _No, makeup." Tori insisted. "I wanna have my name on credits again, just because. Who knows, maybe it'll help me get back in show business." Tori smiled, showing a little sex appeal. "So can you please help me? I mean, we could use the extra money, and who knows where it could lead. Yes, I need this. Baby, make it happen, okay?"_

" _Okay, okay." Jade gave in. "I'll see what I can do."  
_

" _Great." Tori chirped. "And Jade, FYI, it's okay if we have sex in your trailer. I mean, with all the screwing and fucking thats gonna be going on, it's bound to happen. Just saying, if it does, I won't hold it against you. I just, you know, I'll need to deal with the stress too. Maybe it'll help us both get through the day?"_

" _Sure." Jade's voice was soft, shallow, weak. It was clear that Jade needed more. But, as usual, Tori would leave her hanging, with maybe just enough support to keep going. Maybe..._

 _Later, at her therapist, Tori spoke about her problem. "I don't know how to balance everything." She said, knowing this wasn't the first time they'd tackled this subject. "I mean, I'm not supposed to care about her, not any more then what she's supposed to be doing for me. I mean, as a human, I guess I kinda worry about her, and I need her alive so I have someplace safe to be. But I'm seriously worried that she'll hurt herself. A-and thats whats been freaking me out lately. I don't wanna deal with her hurt. I… I care about her." The silence that followed seemed to stretch on forever, making Tori think that her therapist had drifted off to sleep._

" _So is this the first time you've admitted it to yourself, or just to me?" The man asked. He'd been such a non-entity for so long, she tended to forget his name. But his style of therapy involved disappearing, letting Tori find her way through the labyrinth of her mind until the truth found it's way out again. Admittedly, he was just a touch more Gestalt then Freudian, but for the most part, his style of therapy involved letting Tori find herself in a quandary, and being a mirror on which she projected those moments until she could understand what she was feeling. All Tori knew was this was the challenge, the moment when his question would force her to admit something._

" _I… I don't think I quite realized how much I cared about her until now." Tori admitted. "I knew I needed her, wanted her to succeed. But at the same time, I needed her to suffer."_

" _Because she was your bully back in school?" He asked. "Or because you needed someone to hurt, and she was the one available." He let that sink in, let her think about that possibility. "I mean, she's already admitted feelings for you, and in the process, giving up any claim to the high ground in your relationship. You told me as much, how she gave up control, gave it to you. I could see how easy it would be, if you wanted to hurt her. If that really is, was your intent."_

" _I..." Tori shut her mouth and thought, really thought, about her response. "Is it really that bad, needing to lash out, just a bit? Does that make me a bad person? Or maybe, just maybe, I hoped I wouldn't have real feelings for her. I hoped, prayed, that this marriage I forced her into was just one of convenience, and once I didn't need her any more, I could just walk away."_

" _No you didn't." He chirped. She couldn't remember when he'd been that bold. "You wanted someone to hurt, and someone to love, and lucky you, you got someone as screwed up as you. Didn't you say, when you got married, it really felt like you'd chosen that over ending your own life. And I believe you said that was true for both of you."_

" _So?" Tori asked._

" _Just saying, you need to be honest. Emotions, their not usually that straight forward. You can love someone, hate them, and want the best for them even as you try to sabotage whatever you have cause that might give them what they want." He explained. "So, lets start from the top. Be honest, and tell me what your feeling for Jade."_

 _That was the moment, Tori realized, that she admitted to loving Jade. It was also the moment she realized she didn't have to hurt Jade, just not tell the girl about her feelings. It would be months before she admitted it to Jade, let them both know for sure they loved one another. It was, however, the start of Tori trying, slowly, haltingly, to help Jade get stronger, be able to stand on her own more. It was the moment Tori realized she wanted Jade, that marriage of theirs, to be real._

" _I don't want to walk away." Tori said, even as her hands were shaking. "I don't want to see her alone again. I never wanted to fall for her, but I think, maybe, I did. And now, given my choices, I want to make something of this marriage."_

" _So what are you going to do about her current situation?" He asked, before falling back into his roll as a mirror for her emotions._

 _Two days later, after working as an extra hand on a porn shoot, Tori walked back to the trailer she and Jade were using, and proceeded to make love to Jade for the first time. Worse, from Tori's scheming point of view, was that she'd planned that seduction down to the kiss. Tori knew she couldn't tell Jade she cared about her, not yet, but she sure as anything could show her._

 _Richard Masters left the company shortly after, dodging accusations of sexual assault. Apparently, his belief that the actresses were just prostitutes wasn't restricted to just Jade. He'd tried offering money in exchange for sex to several girls, expecting them to jump at the chance to win favor with a mover and shaker. Instead, they'd almost pressed charges._

Tori smiled at that memory. 'Stupid jerk tried to proposition my girl? I just talked to the talent, explained things to them, and he wound up in trouble. And Dick, some day, we're gonna run into each other again, and I'm gonna let you know what happens to guys who try to take my girl...' The anger felt good, because it was directed at someone else.

:}

That was a quick jaunt down memory lane. Just showing that Tori has her share of regrets. Also, let you know what happened to the gun, just in case any of you cared.

So, who likes mister Richard Masters? We won't be seeing him again. But, you gotta love the name, right?

Review. It's one way to say you care, or just wanna rag on the character who's bugging you at the moment. Either way, I'd love to hear from you.

Next time, we catch up with Trina, and Jade.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters.

Warning: mention of rape, assault, and other potentially triggering chiz. You've been warned.

:}

Even as Tori started her turn down memory lane, other forces were in motion. Like her sister taking her wife to go meet her old friends. Across town, Trina slowly walked into the police station house where she'd agreed to pick Jade up. "So, how was the evening?" She called out as soon as she spotting the pale girl.

"Not bad." Jade replied, turning to follow the older girl out of the building. "It's kinda funny, going on a ride along with your dad. Not so much because I've never done that before, or the odd relationship it puts me in with the police. I mean, I've been in the back of a police car before, just never without the handcuffs. But no, it was was weird, in a fun way, cause your dad's not a beat cop. Get this, they made him ride in the back, with me. Turns out, we were both on a ride along." She chuckled. "He's already on his way home. Figured a police station was a safe enough place to let me hang out. I was amusing myself with the high tech finger print scanner. I mean, it's practically available for laptops now." She glanced back at the building before turning back to Trina. "So, whats up? I know you wanted something, or I'd be on my way home already. We both know your dad would've given me a ride." She tried to fix the older girl with her best stare, but was just to excited about what she'd been allowed to play with. "So, why was I waiting for you while not getting any ink on my fingers cause the tech, it's…" She shook her head. "Can't wait for them to adapt that for pads" Her pale smile was almost illuminating.

Trina gestured for the other girl to follow. "Something came up, and we need to take care of it. That means, on the way back to your place, we have to make a stop." Trina explained. At the confused look her sister in law was giving her, she elaborated. "There are a few of your one time friends who'd like a word with you, and I've chosen the most neutral place I could find for them to have it." Trina started leading the way to her car.

"Nozu closes at midnight, so where are we going" Jade wondered aloud, even as she followed the shorter girl.

"Neutral ground for you and Tori's old gang." Trina replied. "My dad's house."

Trina had chosen that house for a couple of reasons. First, because it was the main group hangout outside of school, in addition to being the Vega's home, it was kinda their place. They all knew where it was, and how to get there. Second, as none of them had been there in a while, it felt more neutral then say Trina's apartment. Mostly, however, it was ideal because David would be there, and he was far more likely to stand up for the girl who pushed his youngest to reconnect with the family then even Tori was.

Trina knew her dad would be there. It was late, and her father just never had it in him to sell a place sop full of memories. After the divorce, David had wound up with the house, mostly because Holly didn't want it. She wanted her freedom, and was currently living it up in Colorado, working in a pot store owned by an old friend of hers. As a result, David had the house. So he lived there alone, to the point where even Trina was starting to worry about him. Still, the house now would serve and a familiar, if neutral, place to meet.

"So, any chance we could stop along the way for a coffee, or maybe delay this a day or two?" Jade asked. She started feeling more and more nervous as they drove, ever since she'd found out that she was going to face her one time friends, without Tori there to support her. 'I should ask who, but honestly, I'm almost afraid to know.'

"Not after what they learned tonight." Trina said. "I'm sorry, but some of your past, stuff you may not wanna..."

"Tori texted me, let me know what happened." Jade said, now looking out the window. "She swears she's sorry, but we both know how she can be. I'm just hoping it came out as a distraction, and not her defending me. Bad as this is, I don't wanna muddy the waters up with her motivations."

"I told them." Trina said, showing no remorse whatsoever. "Jade, they hated you for what you did to Tori. They were talking about how you needed to suffer. I just..." She took a breath, and for a moment, her knuckles seemed to turn while as she squeezed the steering wheel. "Okay, I went overboard. Maybe I could have left it at you living in your car, and all the bad that went with it. But I needed to stop them before they talked Tori into doing something really stupid, like maybe staying with one of them, and breaking up your still too fragile relationship. So if you need to be mad at someone, be mad at me."

"I'm wazzed, but I understand." Jade replied, deflating just a bit. "I just wish Jason had kept his big mouth shut. Then maybe you wouldn't have felt the need to step in and cause me to face that shit again."

"You were always gonna have to face that chiz again." Trina assured her. "Jade, maybe you don't want them looking at your differently, but trust me, the way they were, you'd have wound up yelling, and there was a chance you'd have let it slip in a moment of rage. And that, my friend, would have been even more awkward. Right now, they think you gave me permission so that I could use it to protect Tori. And hell, you just said thats your preferred way for it to have come out. So, lets just agree that I saved us time, and move on."

"Who's gonna be there?" Jade asked, not willing to go deeper into what the others must be thinking of her now. 'Wait, do I really wanna know…?' Jade argued with herself. But the die was cast, even if she'd asked before she could think not too.

"Cat, and maybe a couple of the others." Trina replied. "Cat wants a one on one meeting, but Beck may need to talk to you. I don't know what Andre is thinking or planning. Robbie, he's with Courtney, Sinjin's sister, and so he's staying out of this until it's closer to home for him. But Beck, I suspect he wants to talk to you, almost as much as Cat does. If you'd like, we can limit this, give them only a taste, let them come back to finish their business later. Thats probably whats best for Tori."

"Does your dad know their coming over?" Jade still wasn't looking at Trina.

"I texted him." The older girl admitted. "No sense in giving him time to say no."

"You two have such a wonderful relationship." Jade's sarcasm dripped onto the carpet.

"Better then..." Trina shut her mouth, not wanting to say any more of what she was thinking.

"What?" Jade asked. A second passed, and she looked a bit miffed. "You're editing, and you never edit. Not what your about to say. Not unless your trying to impress, and lets be honest, we're long past that now."

"I've changed a lot, Jade." Trina said, measuring her words. "I understand the power words can have, and now I use them appropriately."

"Which is why you stopped yourself from bringing up my issues with my father." Jade clarified. "Thanks for trying, but you failed, and now I have that shit taking up space inside, messing up my mind."

"I never found out why you were disowned." Trina said. "Wait, not my business."

"Stay close, cause your about to find out." Jade told her, then waited for the car to come to a stop. They were at the very familiar home that once was a source of joy for the goth. But now, she was on familiar territory, angry and using that rage to fuel her ability to face her one time friends. 'Doubt it'll last.'

Inside the house, Cat was sitting on the couch, while Beck stood near by, talking to Mister Vega. "So, anyways, Trina just felt this was neutral ground, and I agreed." He finished telling the man.

"Trina and me, we're gonna have us a talk about this chiz, once she gets here." The police officer said. "Until then, make yourself at home. Wait, you already did, didn't you? Just like always. Just like back when Tori was in high school."

Not sure he wanted to push the host, Beck sat down next to Cat, thinking for several seconds. He had another thing to tackle first. "So, molested…?" He'd kept his voice low, private.

"There's a bit more to it then just that, but yea, why?" Cat asked.

"Don't know, maybe I feel, as her boyfriend, I should have been told." He whispered, not wanting Mister Vega to hear.

"What business was it of yours?" Cat asked, managing to sound offended.

"She was my girlfriend..." He started.

"And my sister." Cat cut him off. "Beck, Jade was a private person, and she often believed the shit her father told her. Shit like it was her fault, or she deserved it. So no, she wasn't gonna tell you."

"Just, it hurts, thinking about what she might have gone through..." Beck stopped, not sure what he was thinking. "Was that why she was so mean to Tori?"

"Part of it." Cat said, staying calm. "Beck, this is about family, like Jade was practically my sister. Almost my mother, too, given how much I let her take care of me. But my issues, their between me and her. Whatever it is you need, don't make it about her past, cause you're really not ready for everything."

"Does Tori know everything?" Beck asked.

"Thats between her and Jade." Cat said calmly. "Like I said, I don't know everything. But I knew many of her secrets, cause when she was taking care of me, I got to see sides of her she doesn't like to admit exist. So yea, I knew about the molestation, and some of her other problems with her parents."

"How could her dad do that to her?" Beck moaned.

"Who said it was her dad?" Cat asked, smirking. "Her mom wasn't a saint, and she dated a lot of different men. Maybe one, or more, of them was responsible. Who knew? Whatever happens, I know, Jade and me, we have a chance to be good again. Right now, it's up to her. I'm ready, willing to do my part. Jade just has to be willing to do hers." Brown eyes pierced Beck own. "So, what do you want from Jade?"

"Mister Vega, I was wondering…?" Beck stood up and made conversation with the police officer again, trying to avoid Cat's cold eyes. 'Those eyes. She was accusing me...'

Trina and Jade walked into the old Vega homestead, finding Cat already there, sitting on the couch, watching the door closely. Nearby, Beck was talking quietly with Officer Vega. The older man detached himself from that conversation to greet his eldest.

"Trina, next time you invite people over, let me know." The elder Vega said. "I got back, locked up my gun, and had these people knocking on my door. They claimed they were invited."

"Yea, sorry about that." Jade said, shifting nervously, her rage dying. After the evening they'd just had, she really wanted this man to like her.

"Not your fault." David replied.

"But it is, and I wasn't even there." Jade said, keeping her voice from breaking. Sadness was surging, and she felt she had to do something to counter it, before she felt like running, or collapsing, or worse.

"Okay, dad, we needed a safe place to talk, and this is it." Trina chimed in. "Sorry to drag you into things, but man, I need the extra body. We good?"

"For now." The older man said. "But in the future, include me in your planning. I could have had..."

"What?" Jade asked, hoping to avoid her impending confrontations.

"Never mind," The police officer said, "I think your friends are waiting." He gestured towards where Cat was siting, tapping her foot like an angry housewife waiting for her drunken spouse to stagger in through the door

"Okay, Cat, you wanna talk to Jade, you can step out back, have your one on one." Trina announced. "Beck, you can keep talking with my dad, or not, but I promised Cat some privacy first.".

Jade held up her hand, getting everyone's attention. 'Okay Jade, you can do this.' She steeled herself, and spoke. "First, I kinda promised you the reason I was disowned. My dad, far as I can tell, he'd been looking for a reason to toss me out for a while, and when I was accused of catfishing Tori, he used that as his excuse. Privately, he told me it'd do me good to have to fend for myself. But my mother, he told her that if they didn't disown me, cut me off completely, then they could be caught up in any civil suit that might have come out of the episode. Of course, tossing me out after the fact wasn't gonna help them, but they did it, on my eighteenth birthday, and I was left all alone in the world. I haven't spoken to my parents in years. Not since high school. Now, everyone's caught up? Good, cause I believe Cat here wants to talk to me." Jade walked out the french doors, and waited on the patio. But inside, she felt empty, just for that moment, as she reminded herself that her family extended to Tori, maybe David and Trina, and that was about it.

Cat followed quickly, shadowed by Trina, while David sat Beck down to talk about stuff in general. "So?" Jade asked Cat.

"Apologize." Cat replied. "In case no one told you, I expect an apology for what you did."

"I'm sorry, I really am, but I'm not sure what I did that warrants this level of hostility." Jade said. "I know you hate me, and I deserve it, but I'm not sure why."

"YOU CATFISHED TORI!" Cat screamed right into her face. The smaller girl was invading Jade's personal space, so close it felt like they were almost touching. But then the petite girl stepped back, still fuming. "Jade, do you have any idea how disruptive you leaving the group was? For all of us? Beck was hurting, had trouble finding anyone, cause he needs more then just a fucking project. He needed someone who would contain him, keep him from dating scanks who just wanted him cause he was hot. And Andre, he was your friend, and all he spoke about for the rest of senior year was how wazzed he was at you. And then, then, well there's me, cause I needed you, and you weren't there. I needed you, needed a friend who'd fight for me, and of all the people I knew, that I called friend, it felt like you were the only one ever willing to do that for me. Only you were ever willing to stand up to me, tell me something was a bad idea, without judging me for it. Yes, maybe you'd do things that hurt, a bit, but that was just you, revenge as a step towards forgiveness. And guess what, it would have been better for everyone if maybe, just maybe, you'd have let us do something majorly embarrassing to you then forgive you." Cat stopped, her hyper energy running low. Also, she felt that she might want to breath before yelling at the goth again.

"Thats not how people work." Trina chimed in.

"I know that!" Cat snapped at Trina. "That's what made Jade my best friend, and it took me years to see it. She got even, then it was over. That's a hell of a lot more honest relationship then I've ever had with anyone else. And she looked after me." Cat refocused on Jade. "Where were you when I needed you to look after me?" Tears started flowing, and Jade forced herself to give the petite girl a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Cat..." Jade was saying, trying to be strong for her friend.

"Thats right." Cat snapped back to her rage, but an odd edge had formed to her words. Hurt echoed in each syllable. "You were busy living in your car, getting mugged and hurt and raped. And before you say anything, of course I hate that it happened to you. But if you'd have just come to me, apologized, maybe let me do some kind of revenge thingy to you, then you could have shared the closet I was living in at the time. You remember Goomer, right? I spend months in his closet. But it was warm, had a light, had access to a shower, was in a safe neighborhood, and I lived with a fucking professional MMA fighter, so I knew I was safe. Jade, why couldn't you have been living with me?" The grip had grown tighter, like Cat didn't want to let go.

"I'm sorry, Cat." Jade repeated, not sure what else to say.

Several seconds passed, the two holding one another in something between comfort and not letting the other escape. "How many times?" A brief pause. "How many tried to rape you?"

"Just the once." Jade said.

"Not succeeded, tried?" Cat clarified. Her anger was muted, but the strength it gave her put an edge in her voice that demanded a response. Fingers dug into flesh as she refused to let go until she had her answer.

"Not that many." Jade said, trying to dodge the issue. Like a child being scolded by their parent, Jade was getting in trouble for putting herself in danger.

"How many?" Cat growled. Her grip on the bigger girl grew just a touch tighter.

"Maybe a dozen, max." Jade admitted.

"And Tori knows?" Cat asked.

"Tori does not know." Trina said, now sounding upset. "Jade, why keep that to yourself?"

"Tori doesn't need to know how close to dying I came." Jade blabbed, and immediately regretted it.

Cat glared at her. "Scars, or managed to get away without being robbed, raped, and hurt?"

"Escaped." Jade admitted. "Except the one time, but you know about that. The others, I got my scissors on them when they'd moved the knife to try and grab something."

"You're gonna tell her, and be good about it." Cat insisted. "And us, we're not good yet, but I got my apology. But know this, I'm not happy about any of this. You, get strong again, so I can yell at you about how stupid you were for assuming I wouldn't be there for you, after all the times you'd been there for me." Cat started to cry. 'Why didn't you let me be there for you?" There was no answering that question, just the tears of regret for both that they'd missed a chance to help one another.

They held one another for another minute, just allowing the old feelings to pour out, until both were ready to face the world again. "You ready for Beck?" Trina asked.

"Not really." Jade admitted.

"Too bad." Cat said, switching to holding the taller girls hand then pulling her into the house. Cat was unusually strong, but Jade was stronger, and could have resisted. Today, however, Jade lacked any resistance. She just allowed herself to be pulled inside.

"Beck, you wanna hear what we talked about?" Cat asked.

"Not right now." Beck replied. "Jade, I heard about the rom-com your making, and was hoping I could read for a part."

Everyone just stared at him, jaws open. "Read for a part?" Jade mouthed.

"I know, you want big names for the leads, but if you could managed to get one name, maybe you could find a big part for me?" Beck said. "And yea, I know, we have a lot of history behind us, but I was thinking, what better way to help everyone then to have me as a part of your film. My career grows, and I'm moved out of the Carsons reach. I help your film be a big hit, and your out of their reach. And we'd have months to work on our past, work through chiz, and find out who we are now."

"I'm married." Jade said. "Very happily, thank you very much."

"And I'm not a home wrecker." Beck replied. "I just felt that this was a win win. You know my skills, my talent, and my dedication to the craft, and I know you're starting late and need to attach big names to get the studio to back the production."

"Beck..." Trina warned, getting her baring again.

"How about this." Jade suggested, needing to get control before things spiraled. "You convince the studio that you'd be worth the risk, and I'll be happy to cast you in a major roll."

"Done." Beck agreed.

"And if not, I can find a couple of supporting rolls I could maybe plug you into." Jade continued. "Cat, you want a roll?"

"No, I want Tori to work for my show." Cat shot back. "I think, maybe, it'd be for the best if she was my production assistant. Less nepotism."

"She wants to screw me on set." Jade tried.

"Who said she wouldn't be allowed to?" Cat asked, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I'm more then willing to give her the time off to screw you whenever, as long as she gets the job done. But know this, I want Tori. I want to be the one to give her a job in show business." Her brown orbs were again hard, cold, resolved.

"And the Carsons won't object?" Jade asked.

"My show is part of Learning Live, and that group is outside the Hollywood Network." Cat pointed out.

"Then I agree, on the condition that you find an on air roll for her. Maybe your assistant?" Jade suggested.

"MY on air assistants are kids." Cat said. "But I could use a kid wrangler. Someone to walk the kid into position, act as a chaperon. My on air second, and maybe, just maybe, I can even work her into a small segment, possibly involving icky stuff. I'll have to see what my producers are willing to put up with. But I'll talk to them, see if their interested."

"And I think you all should be getting home." David said. "Except Jade. I'll drive her, and make sure there are no more detours."

The others agreed, except for Trina, who found herself in a quick whisper battle with her father. David, however, wasn't going to lose this one, causing his eldest to leave in a royal huff. "Sinjins gonna pay for that one." Jade joked.

David just frowned at her as he locked up, then led her out to the car, and started discussing what he and Trina had argued about, in a fashion that left Jade feeling even more nervous. "Trina told me..."

:}

Okay, long chapter, and it's got a lot to unpack. We have the Cat and Jade talking, with Jade just apologizing case she doesn't know what else to do. We have Jade admitting to a bit more about her life in her car. We have David, who somehow heard what Jade told Cat. In short, Jade's had a busy night, and it started so promising.

Jason will not be referenced to again in the story. it's just, sometimes, people are referred to by name, and that one seemed like a nice name. He's the actor who, presumably, told Trina about Jade.

Jade did kinda volunteer information she wasn't asked too. And I know, not everyone who has that happen to them winds up living on the street. Btu hen they have no where else to go, and no fiends, they sometimes do. Just a thought.

So, thoughts, comments, let me know. The review button is calling out to you, starting to make appearances in your sleep. Give in, review, cause you know you want to.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters.

Warning, this chapter gets a bit heavy.

:}

Tori had been waiting at home, for what felt like hours, not quite lost in her memories of her and Jade. She was sitting on the couch, mostly because she'd already tore into Jade for sitting on the floor, and the last thing she wanted was to be called a hypocrite. But Tori had been sitting there, feeling nervous, for over an hour before the door opened and Jade walked in. She warred with herself, whether she should leap up and hug her girl, or yell at her for not calling, letting her know everything was okay. However, before she could react, one way or another, her father, David, walked in behind Jade. He had a grim, business like look on his face, the face she was sure he used when he had to deliver bad news. "Okay, Jade, like we practiced." He said, maintaining his professional detachment.

"Tori, sweaty, I have something to tell you." Jade said, trying hard to look her wife in the eye. "Something came up tonight, while I was speaking with Cat, and it's kinda big. Something I never told you." Jade had one hand holding the other, in something similar tot he cutesy stance many girls used to ask favors. Only, with her, it was to hold her hand and keep from running her fingers through her hair. That felt too much like something Beck would do. 'Go on, West, you can do this. Tell her, just like you practiced, before he tells her, and things get that much worse.' She thought, pushing to get the words out. "Y-you know about the rape, right?" She gave a small gulp, not wanting to continue. "Funny this is, that wasn't the only time someone tried it. But I managed to get away, usually, until finally the odds caught up with me, and it happened."

"How many…?" Tori wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Maybe a dozen attempts." Jade admitted. "But only one success." She held on to her smile, hoping that it somehow made things easier to hear. Seeing that it wasn't working, and still with that idiotic smile on her face, Jade shifted tactics. "I already got chewed out by Cat for not going crawling to her. I..." She took a deep breath. "Sorry, need to get through this, then maybe find a couch to sleep on for the night. Do, anyways, I was almost killed, twice. No scars, but thats only cause I was able to get my scissors while the first was distracted, and the second, he had a gun, was gonna shoot me, but something went wrong, or right, I never worried about what, and I was able to get away before he figured out what he was doing wrong. He almost hit me a couple of times, once he got the gun working again. But by then, I was running, using the streets as cover, that kind of chiz. And, well..." Jade glanced over at David, who rolled his eyes. Her smile had faded somewhere along the way.

"Jade, you're through the worst of it. Now talk to her." David instructed.

"I also worked, for a short while, for a drug dealer. All I did was hold his shit for him, never once thought to use any of it." Jade seemed to smile, just for a moment. "I get the feeling he wanted me to. I almost did, too. The drugs, they could have made the pain go away. But I knew, I knew he had these girls working for him. He had these drug addicted girls working for him, whoring for him, and they'd all started out as customers. And one of them, she warned me, told me about how she'd fallen, needed the drugs more then she needed her self respect. She made me realize what he really wanted was me. That he was waiting for me to slip up, sample, so he could put me on the streets to work off the difference. And I was so tempted, just to let the drugs take the pain, my life, away. It would have been fitting, a punishment I felt I deserved." She shook her head, holding back the tears. "But I had the job, Soft touch, they were offering me a chance to be worth more then my bust size. They believed in my talents, my skill as a film editor, my skills in post production. Production as a whole. So I had a reason not to use."

"So, Soft Touch offered her a job, gave her some level of hope, and a source of income that was legal." David filled in. "Now Jade, finish the story."

"Okay, anyways, yea, I avoided sampling, avoided being his whore. Also, to this day, I'm thankful the police never searched me while I had his stuff, cause he wasn't the type to accept confiscated as an excuse." Jade exhaled. "I finished working for him, gave up on it to avoid being one of his whores, and was promptly raped. You know the rest."

Tori stood up, shifting her gaze from her wife to her father and back to her wife. For several agonizing seconds, she processed, trying to decide what she wanted to say. But inside, she was hurt, almost betrayed, by what Jade had kept from her. "Okay, I'm gonna need time to process what I just heard." Tori acknowledged, pacing. "Dad?"

"Yes?" Officer Vega asked.

"How was tonight?" Tori looked lost, needing a distraction.

"Good." David said. "I got to spend a bit more time with my daughter in law, figure her out a bit more, and I know what my next family project's gonna be." He placed a supportive arm on his daughter, giving her a soft smile. "So now, lets get you though this. I know it's hard, hearing your lover kept secrets from you. But you need to understand, that was all in her past. A past when she was making bad decisions, trying to prove herself, while also feeling like maybe she deserved to be hurt, just a little, for letting herself fall to that place. And she was alone. Back then, when she was trying to make things happen, often taking whatever risks she felt would help her get back on track, she didn't have anyone else she could count on. She was, as I said, alone. However, that was then, and now, she's not. Jade's not gonna be taking those risks again, cause she's not alone in the world. She has a home, someone who will keep her grounded, and a career that's taking off. I think she's past that phase, has too much to lose, and frankly, she's learned her lesson about taking unnecessary risks.."

"Jade?" Tori asked. The Latina still looked upset, but her voice was a lot more centered.

"Yes?" Jade felt nervous.

"Where you sleep is dependent on how you answer my next couple of questions." Tori looked worn out, exhausted. Like the events of the day had caught up with her, and only now could Jade really see there effects. "What did you mean by Cat wanted you to go crawling to her?"

"She felt I should have gone to her and sought forgiveness." Jade admitted. "I think she feels that she would have accepted my apology, and we could have lived together in her friends closet until my life turned around."

"And Beck?" The Latina was shifting, nervous.

"He wants a part in my movie." Jade said. "A major roll. Oh, yea, babe, Cat wants you to work for her, as a production assistant. I said you'd want an on air roll, and she said she'd look into it, see what she could do. I know, you want to be working with me, and I can guarantee a job for you, just not in front of the camera. Not yet."

Tori shifted again, getting angrier. "You want me to take the job with Cat?" The strange sense of hurt was something she could latch onto, so she went with it.

"I want to be able to cast you in my movies." Jade countered. "But I'm moving out of the independent scene, and into main stream, and that means I need a lot more stroke to directly defy the Carsons. Behind the scenes, yea, I can so do that. I can even, maybe, get you a job that gets mentioned in the credits. Just not as talent. Not yet. I owe too much to our friends at Soft Touch to allow myself to be defeated before I break out. Cat, however, she may be able to swing a better roll, cause of who her backers are. If that happened, you could well wind up with the better deal with her. I know, you wanna be near me, and I love that. I'll try to meet you half way, maybe have you work for both productions, if possible. Otherwise, I'll stay available..."

"Just like Beck wants." Tori cut in, her rage boiling over.

"Beck knows I'm off limits." Jade said, feeling her own anger. "If he wanted to save one of us, it'd be you. Think about it, Tor, Beck was all too willing to let me go, but you, you had to tell him to keep his distance. No, if he's after someone, it's you. I'll bet he waits, is the perfect actor, the perfect friend, up until the moment comes where I'm busy and you come by for a visit. Then, all he has to do is convince you I'm stepping out with one of the others, and BAM! He has his opening."

"You done?" David asked, stepping in before this fight escalated. He'd sat down while they were talking. "Jade, you have to be able to trust Tori. She'd never step out on you. And Tori, honey, Jade's too damaged to just shack up with whomever. You know that. Now sit, cause I see a bit of time before I get to go home to my warm bed. Tori, listen closely."

Tori looked at her father, taking a moment to resist the old impulse to go running when her father gave an instruction. However, she knew he meant business, and so she walked over to sit next to him on the couch. "Okay, shoot." She said. Her hands were still shaking, rage and worry pumping adrenaline into her system. 'If this weren't dad, I would have told him to leave by now...'

"Are you upset that Jade's even more damaged then you'd thought, or that she didn't tell you?" He asked, maintaining a professional cool about himself. "If it's the second, think, really think, she never wanted you to know how hurt she'd been in the past. She didn't want to burden you with that, and it's not easy admitting that kind of stuff sometimes. Baby, this is not about trust, thought I think Jade needs to open up and trust you more. This is about how much you care about her. Jade's risking a lot now, cause she does love you, and things came out that she never intended to admit too. Cat knows. Trina knows. Jade was sure you'd find out. Not the way I'd want to hear any of this chiz, but it's the way we had to hear about it. Jade won't admit to how damaged she is if we don't make her, because she never learned to trust enough that you could love her as a damaged person. So, you still love her?"

Tori nodded. It was weak, felt almost forced, but she did, so she did. "Good." David continued. "Jade, she loves you. She's just hurt cause you didn't tell her everything earlier. We know your reasons. Hell, I doubt either of us could argue against them. But guess what, Tori loves you. So Jade, will you trust my daughter enough to let her work with Cat?"

"Of course." Jade said. To the pale girl, it was separate issues, trusting Tori working with Cat, and trusting that someone loved her. So she said yes quickly, before her feelings could effect her words.

"Now say it because you trust her, and not that you believe she'd be better off without you." David pushed.

"Okay, I'm afraid of losing her. Not just because I love her, but because I'm not sure I could do this on my own." Jade tried to look strong, despite the vulnerability of the moment. "I know I'm hopeless, and that every success I've had was either to spite someone, or to help you, Tori. But if you get a shot at something better, I think you should take it. And yes, that includes Beck."

"No it doesn't." David corrected her. "Jade, I can see your heart breaking. Accept that maybe, Tori does love you, and wants to spend more time with you. And Tori, listen, cause this is how much she cares, that she's willing to give you up so you can have better."

"Jade, babe, look at me." Tori said, her rage fading into a sea of hurt and understanding. "I've been so worried, all this time, about letting everyone down. I'm a people pleaser, so imagine how thrilled I was to be anointed the most likely to succeed from our class. I was gonna be the pop princess. I was going to see the world, bringing music and happiness to everyone, and in return, they'd love me. The best world possible for me, and the Carsons took all of that away." A tear flowed down her face, reminding her of her earlier woes. "Then you, you were there, needing me as much as I needed you. And just like that, we had our reasons to live again. But now my reasons, my feelings, they go so much deeper then that. I love you, and I was so scared that I'd let them pull me away from you, just because they felt I could do better." She saw it, the pain and vulnerability, in her wife's blue eyes. She saw how much it hurt, the fear of letting go, being alone again, and understanding that feeling hurt her own heart, all over again. But it was empathy, understanding of someone else's pain, and Tori could use that to help save their marriage. "How could I do better then a girl who is willing to let me go, after admitting I'm literally her reason for living, just because she thinks I'd be happier with someone else. The world is just going to have to find someone else to be their puppet. That is, unless I can do it, and still have my wife." Arms wrapped around Jade's waist, pulling the still standing girl to the sitting Latina. For several moments, the sound of Jade's tears, mixed with soft understanding sounds from Tori, filled the silence.

"My work here is done." David announced as he stood up. "Girls, I'm alone in that big house. Why don't you two come by and visit some time. I'd love to have someone to liven things up. Hell, having Cat and Beck there today was a thrill. I know, Jade bought you a house, but you could have moved in with me. You should have, a year ago. I'd love to have something breaking up the monotony."

"Then get a girlfriend." Jade snapped, suddenly free from her guilt. Almost immediately after, she felt guilty over her reaction. "Sorry, too much. I just, hell, why haven't you found yourself a new girl?"

"Because I was worried about what my daughters would think of me." He admitted. "I mean, how do you go about telling your kids something like this. But I think you'd like her. I know, why don't we make arrangements to have dinner one night, and I'll introduce you to her." With those words, he walked out the door. The sound of it clicking shut was followed by several new moments of silence.

"Oh my holy gods!" Jade whispered. "Your dad's dating again."

"It's been a couple of year since mom, so yea." Tori agreed. "But thats also the last bit of my childhood gone away. Hold me."

Jade wrapped her arms around her wife, feeling the love for the first time in a long time. 'I knew I loved her enough to destroy myself, but I never really accepted she loved me. Not before this moment. How'd I miss that?' Jade wondered. But her words were comforting, telling her wife that things would be okay in the morning.

After a bit, Tori seemed to shift focus from everything else that happened to one lingering piece of business. "Jade, in the morning, we're calling Cat and seeing what kind of job she can find for me." Tori said from her place in Jade's arms.

"It may be a couple of days before we know what kind of work she has for you." Jade cautioned. "But I agree, it's a good thing to let her do this for you."

"I'm not leaving you." Tori said. "I've invested too much to lose you now."

"I think, maybe, Cat wants to be a part of my life again." Jade commented. "Not that she doesn't want to help you..." She added quickly. Tori laughed.

"Cat wants to be the one to help me out." She acknowledged. "Will it hurt your ego knowing someone else helped me?" She pulled back to look her wife in the eyes.

"It's her revenge." Jade replied. "So yea, it'll sting a bit. But what can you do? It'll help her be in my life again, once she feels she's paid me back for abandoning her. And I know she won't do anything to endanger our marriage. So yea, you go work for her. Things will work out just fine."

After a while, they pulled out the bed and went to sleep. "You realize, we're moving next week." Tori pointed out. "We don't have nearly enough stuff for the house. It's gonna feel so empty for a while."

"But we'll be able to fill it up together." Jade countered. "Make it truly ours."

Tori smiled, cuddling into her wife. "You really okay with having them back in our lives?" She asked.

"It's good for you." Jade said, almost reflexively. "Sorry, habit."

"It's okay to think about me." Tori said. "Just, for the love of Dan, I worry about you too. If your hurting yourself, your taking what I love away from me. So, cuddle bunnies?"

"Yea, hold me." Jade said. It was one of the last nights they'd be sleeping on that Murphy bed, with Jade having already bought them a nice bedroom set, including hotel quality mattresses. Sleep found them, and for that moment, they were content.

:}

So, David has a new girlfriend. Who expected that? And oh yea, he talked his daughter down, helped Jade see she was loved and in general managed this crises. But thew big news, he has a girlfriend. Guessing all that time in therapy helped him out.

So, thoughts, comments, whatever, feel free to let me know. Also, almost no cat, as she slipped in there despite things. But if you wanna love or hate her, feel free. I can't control what you write.

Next time, we ave the call.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters.

Warning: mention of rape and other potentially triggering subjects. I don't think anything happens here, but you never know what might trigger.

:}

The next morning, after Jade went off to work, Tori called Cat with the good news. "Cat, I'd love to work with you. That is, if you can find a place for me on your show."

"I haven't had a chance to do more then text the producers, but I'm sure they could find you a personal assistant position." Cat said. "At least until we figure everything out. When can you come by the studio, chat a bit?"

"I'm guessing today would be too soon." Tori said, trying not to get her hopes up.

"No, this afternoon works." The petite scientist said.

Tori had to keep herself from screaming. She took a moment to gather herself, letting Cat know how happy she was to be doing the show. "Thanks you so much. You won't regret this."

"Glad to help." Cat said, and even over the phone, Tori could imagine Cat's sweet smile. "We're gonna have so much fun."

"You know, back at Sherwood, I loved science." Tori tossed out.

"Riiight." Cat's doubt was obvious. "Look, I know, once upon a time, you were doing science projects. But to truly love science like I do, thats a whole different kettle of fish. And you don't have too. Just love the kids, and we're great. So, see you this afternoon….. and Tori…?"

"What?" Tori asked, now nervous. She felt that maybe, Cat was trying to let her down easy about the whole science thing.

"Is there any chance Jade'll be joining you?" The former redhead asked.

"Sorry, but she's heavy into pre-production for her movie, as well as dealing with logistics she hadn't anticipated." Tori tried to explain. Inside, she was both relieved, and a bit upset. 'This is about Jade, isn't it?'

"Logistics?" Cat asked.

"The trailer she runs her production company out of is the same one we used to live in, and it's hooked up next to our soon to be house." Tori explained.

"So?" It was such a simple question, showing how little Tori had explained.

"The studio wants her to have an office thats more convention for them." Tori tried.

"Not a problem." Cat said. "The studio where I film my show, Hollywood-Bronson, they have a few portables for rent near by. Jade can just rent one of those until she's big enough to require a more permanent office. Have her come with, and I'll have the property manager talk with her."

"You really want that apology, don't you?" Tori asked.

"That, and I have a whole list of science based pranks I can pull on her, if I feel I need to even the score a bit." Cat said.

"Now I'm thinking that maybe she'll be busy." Tori sounded hesitant.

"Tori, it's not like that." Cat insisted. "I told you, or was it Trina..." She hesitated, just a heartbeat. "Whomever, I told them that Jade and my relationship was complicated. Inside, part of me wants her close cause if she really is back in my life, I wanna make sure she's not going anywhere. I-I don't wanna get hurt like that again."

"So no mean pranks?" Tori asked.

"No promises." Cat replied. "But lets see how my apology goes first, and go from there."

"Wait, you didn't get one from her?" Tori asked.

"We'll talk about that later, okay?" Cat asked. "Just, make sure you get here, I really wanna see you get this part."

"I'll be over in a bit." Tori said. "Um, I'm gonna be traveling by Lyft."

Cat laughed. "Call someone, girl, get a ride."

For a second, Tori was floored by that statement. 'Who could I call on such short notice?' she wondered. But it came to her like a sudden light, and she knew. "I'll call Andre, he knows where I live." Tori said, her face brightening.

"Still don't drive?" Cat asked.

"Couldn't afford it for a while." Tori said. "And I made Jade trade in her car…."

"Was it the one she had in high school?" Cat asked. Tori nodded, despite being on the phone. "Yea, I can guess why you wanted her to get rid of that junk heap. Couldn't be too many happy memories attached to that one. Anyways, see yo this afternoon."

"Any particular time?" Tori asked.

"We start filming a little after one, cause our child helpers often have class until then." Cat said. "Turns out, while we do use some of our audience, most of our kid helpers go to school at the Palm Woods School, attached to the Palm Woods Hotel. It lets out about noon, so they usually get to work by one."

"Isn't the Palm Woods a school for kids in the industry?" Tori asked.

"In that many kids who want to make it in Hollywood live at the Palm Woods, yes." Cat said. "And we employ a number of them as kid helpers and other child acting jobs. Sorry to ruin the illusion, but actors can be counted on to show the correct response, and not get lost in their electrical devices."

"Soo, this afternoon." Tori tried again.

"Call Andre, see if he'll give you a ride." Cat said. "Jade's preferable, but Andre if she's too busy today."

Tori got the ride from Andre, even thought she got Jade to call the studio about using space there. For Dre, it was an afternoon out with his friend, enjoying the Los Angeles weather in an open air cafe before heading into the studio. The front desk had visitors badges for them, already more security then when Trina was filming her show here. With the help of various people at the studio, the two friends were able to find the right stage fairly quickly.

Cat's show used a rotating set of three primary sets, as well as a fourth stage that was used for indoor sets that weren't easier to film on location. The permanent sets were Cat's living room, her lab, and a small vehicle, looking oddly like a scifi car, set up in front of a green screen and used for travel scenes.

Cat greeted them with hugs, a showing of her former self. But, after exchanging pleasantries, she got down to business. "So, no Jade?" Cat asked.

"She's too busy with everything." Tori said. "She actually does want to talk to you, but today just isn't happening. She did managed to fit in a lunch with Beck, for a couple of days from now. I'm sure she'll make time for you. Just, after the current crunch is over."

"The manager called, asking me for a reference for her." Cat said. "I expect she'll not only use the portable, but may use some of the sound stages here in some of her future projects. Hollywood-Bronson does have contracts with many of the major studios."

"Yea, so..." Tori shifted nervously.

"I spoke to my producer, and it turns out they've had dealing's with the Carsons in the past." Cat said, keeping her face neutral.

"Well, you tried." Tori said, not wanting to sound too hurt.

"So naturally, they're trying to figure out what kind of on air roll to give you." The petite girl continued.

"They what?" Andre asked. "How much do they hate the Carson family?"

"Learning Live used to get a ot more of it's funding from grants for the PBS before the Carsons got them knocked off the list." Cat explained. "So, now we make our money from a variety of sources, including merchandising, which is why my show is so fricking important to our group. Turns out, our international markets love buying just about anything with a celebrity's face on it. Yea, we're no Fraggle rock, but we do have our following."

"How popular can a kids science show be?" Andre asked.

"We have contracts with school all over the country, cause they use our show to help teach the little ones." Cat explained. "We have puppet characters, only we can't use them in the lab, cause of fire. We even have a growing international audience."

"So they're gonna find me an on air roll?" Tori was bouncing. "I'm gonna make money on air. Thats working in entertainment. I'm so excited..."

"First, we really don't need anyone." Cat said, calming her friend down. "So your roll will probably be flavor more then substance. But, what can I say, half our crew is on the black list for BS reasons. And if we find out they're on it for a real reason, we're probably firing them anyways. I JUST WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME THIS BEFORE TODAY!" She yelled the last part, her voice echoing around the sound stage, making everyone keenly aware of her displeasure. "Anyways, I need you to interview with Marty. He's already on board, but this is more then a formality. You still gotta make a good impression. Andre, why don't I show you around while Marty has that interview." Her eyes locked on a middle aged man. "Out here, where I can keep an eye on you."

Tori recognized Mary as someone who used to work for Mason Thornsmith. 'Gulp...' Plastering on her best smile, she tried not to shake. "Marty, you may not remember me, but.."

"I remember you from when I worked for Mason." The man said. "No, I don't blame you for what an ass he was. He did get me blacklisted for some god awful reason. I think it was reminding him of something he told me to remind him about. Anyways, I'm not Mason, and I don't hold grudges. Also, I'm happily married, and have no desire for a fling. That being said, what I do need is to know why Cat is so insistent you get a job here."

"I've been blacklisted by the Carsons." Tori started.

"And?" He asked, his voice harsh.

"And the rest gets complicated." She said, looking down.

"Simplest explanation." Marty said.

"Cat and I used to be friend, but we lost touch after high School." Tori said.

"There has to be more." He prompted.

"Her closest friend in High School, and the one girl she felt hurt her the most, is now my wife." Tori continued. "But the whole thing is complicated, and totally Cat's story."

"So you married Jade West?" Marty asked. "I remember her. Talented singer, nice body, and scary as hell."

"Yea, but the marriage, that was after my life had slid down into the gutter, and hers had, and we kinda helped each other find our way out." Tori rambled. "I wish I could say I financially supported her while she was making her first movie, but I'll have to be happy with just holding her hand, helping motivate her. Jade was, is damaged, and I helped her stay together to get so close to the dream. Only thing is, we succeeded too much, and puller her out of the Indy movie set, making her main stream now. That meant she can't have me acting in her movies yet. Not until she's untouchable."

"Okay, that makes some sense." Marty said. "So you fell in love, got married, and now are looking to earn your part of the marriage, right? I know about Cat's problems with Jade. In the time I've know her, she's complained enough about Jade to make it obvious those two have issues. I'm just glad your not a part of that. You're not, right?"

"I'm kinda hoping me working here isn't Cat trying to hurt my wife." Tori admitted. "My dad, he spoke to her, Jade, and helped us see that this doesn't have to be a barrier in our relationship."

"Well, Jade's a filmmaker now, so that'll make their feud fun. That is, assuming they can't find some way to work around it." Marty said, smiling. "So, why do the Carsons hate you?"

"Their son, Steven, was dating me, and this chick in Seattle named..." Tori started.

"Oh, yea, the iCarly diss." Marty said, his grin growing. "Boy deserved that. Thats what got you blackballed? Yea, we can work around that. So, the Carsons hold a grudge, huh? No matter, I have another pet peeve to feed, and you're gonna fill that one in. Congratulations, your Vicky, the new neighbor who believes all that anti science chiz from the news networks. You'll be there for Cat to educate, playing a stand-in for any of the kids parents who might not believe in science. You'll go along on some of Cat's scientific adventures, learning chiz and slowly discovering what you knew was wrong. That is, until after the next episode of the ASN news. ASN stands for..."

"Let me guess, anti-science news?" Tori speculated.

"You got it." Marty said. "So, Tori, it'll take time to introduce the new character. Lets talk with the writers, see how soon we can add you. But earliest possible would be next week. We have all of this weeks filming already written."

"No problem." Tori said. "Um, I do get a contract, right? I want this written down, permanent."

"I'll have legal write you a contact, and you can come by and sign it by, say, the end of the week. We'll get you in costuming too." Marty said.

"Great." Tori offered her hand. "Sounds like we have a deal."

"Just be glad our producers are willing to pay more, strictly scale, but still pay for another character." Marty said. "They hate the Carsons. Bigly."

"Is that even a word?" Tori asked.

"No, yet people use it as one." The producer said. "Lets see if I can find someone to give you a tour of the studio while I wrangle me a scientist." He took a deep breath and yelled "CAT! SHOW TIME!"

The former redhead came out of the side area where she'd been talking to Andre, showing him around her stuff. "Come, you get to see my show." She told her friend. Then to Tori. "So, how'd it go?"

A small group of people were applying makeup to Cat, even as someone was holding an old style "Howie" lab coat and a pair of prop glasses for her. The science star just ignored them, letting them do their jobs as she tried to continue with her conversation.

"Marty said they had a roll for me, and they'd have a contract for me by the end of the week." Tori said.

"I'll make sure he calls you as soon as it's ready." Cat said, stepping int her lab coat. "Did you know, I once did the show almost naked under the coat? I wanted to do it totally nude, but we work with children, so I was in a bikini. Still, it's amazing what this thing will hide." She took her glasses, and walked onto the stage, her current assistants joining her on their marks. "Oh, someone show Tori there the rental space, so she can show that wife of hers."

Tori took that opportunity to scuttle off and see the portable in the back lot, where they were renting space. Thing was, the space wasn't what she expected. She was expecting something on the line of trailers, hooked up and next to one another, or maybe the kind of portables that schools use for extra class space. The portable building was a modern relocatable prefabricated construction, easy for quickly placing a building where you needed one, but it didn't look like she expected. This even looked, for the most part, like a normal building. Instead, what she found was a series of modular buildings, each two stories tall, next to one another, forming a block of buildings. At each end, there was stairs, and an elevator, with restroom modals breaking up the spaces. Then, a central walkway area connected them to one another, the ground floor walkway maybe a foot off the ground, with another above it giving an identical walkway for the next story. Then facing the first row of buildings was a second row, and on top was a free standing roof over the walkways, making the whole things like a modern art building, giving the renters plenty of space to expand, put in offices, whatever they wished.

The office space that Jade was being offered was on the first floor, and already sectioned out for a small production company. The building manager explained as they went along. "This was for a christian film-making company, heavily funded for a while, then abandon as soon as it was discovered the producer was fooling around with his backers second wife. Or was it his third. Whatever, the affair ended their lease, and we haven't reformatted the space yet. I'm thinking we can give your wife a good deal, maybe even help her move in, cause the space, it doesn't cost us that much to have, and we won't have to do any rearranging. That is, if she's willing to have a jacuzzi just off her office."

"Yea, she'll never get any work done with that thing in there." Tori griped. "Show me."

The jacuzzi was one of the smaller models, only meant for two people, but Tori thought it was perfect. "Let me show the pictures I took to her, and see if this fits her budget." The Latina said. Then she rushed back to see what was new with Andre.

Cat was refilming one of her shows scenes, where she explains the science behind what just happened, while Andre sat and watched. The boy was lost, unable to fathom the one time ditsy girl being so smart. Tori, for her part, caught up on the discussion fairly quickly, given it was meant for children. "Dre, time to go." Tori whispered in his ear.

"And cut." The director said. "Cat, baby, you were perfect. But Star, more amazement, please. Act like this was the first time Cat explained this to you, not the fifth. We need the audience to believe that she's captivated you with science."

The ten year old girl nodded, finding her center, preparing to shoot the next take. As she did that, Cat walked over to get a drink of water. "So, did you love the space?" The scientist asked.

"I think it'll do." Tori said. "There's a small Hot Tub, maybe large enough for three people, meant for two, but it has the advantage that two people can get friendly in it, which I suspect was the original intent. I like that idea."

"That serious, huh?" Cat asked. "Tori, you need to know, Jade did apologize to me. I even accepted it. I just need another apology, for something else, and maybe to get my revenge. But after that, Jade is back in my life, and I'm counting on you keeping her there."

Tori smiled. "I'm planning on being there for you, all the way." She offered the smaller girl a hug, and the two were soon smiling, giggling as they reset the scene for the next take.

"We going?" Andre asked.

"Yea, we're going." Tori said. "I have a lot of practicing to do if I'm gonna get back into filming condition by next week. I saw the kids, and they're good. I'm not gonna be the one stinking up the place."

:}

Thoughts?

Anyways, I gave you what I hope is a reasonable science show, as well as the image of Cat naked under the lab coat. Fore those of you who don't know what a Howie lab coat is, and aren't gonna look it up, it's the lab coat of old time mad scientists, with the two sets of buttons, like the one Neil Patrick Harris wore in "Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog".

So, Tori's gonna be on air talent, all cause even the Carsons got themselves some enemies. Gonna help rebuild Tori's career, I'll bet.

So, comments, love, hate, recommendations on a good chain to eat at, just put them in the comments below. And see ya next time.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I own neither Victorious or any of their characters. I may follow one or more on twitter, but thats about it.

Warning, mention of rape, child abuse, revenge, and nasty parents. May be triggering.

:}

That evening, after telling her wife about the new part, Tori showed Jade the pictures she took of the office, including the jacuzzi. As Jade finished going over the pictures one more time, as well as the price offered in the sample lease Tori had picked up (The real one would require a background check, making details subject to change), Tori asked her wife what she thought. "Like it?"

"Like the jacuzzi, but I'm afraid, with you working just across the parking lot, I might not get a lot of work done." Jade teased back.

"But will this break your budget?" Tori pushed, worried that there would be a variety of problems keeping her woman from taking this wonderful office that Cat had recommended. Cat having even gone so far as to have Tori look the place over for Jade, taking pictures and, Tori suspected, falling in love with a couple of it's nicer features. 'Like it doesn't look like some crappy prefabricate building. Hell, nice as tat place is, we could almost live there. Only, zoning, and oh yea, big old new house.'.

"Nope, cause the studio is offering me a stipend for renting a space, up until I finish filming my next project. By then, I should have enough work prepared to film for a while longer, thus earning money that can be used to pay for all kinds of wonderful things, like offices with jacuzzies." Jade gave her love a smile. "The only downside, I now have a commute to work."

"You've had a commute to work." Tori said, grinning. "I loved the hot tub. Gonna get so friendly in there."

"Babe, for you, anything." Jade replied, giving her wife a quick kiss. "By the way, I talked to Sinjin, and we're having dinner with him and his this Friday. I'm thinking that we'll make a big deal out of this, give me a chance to reconnect with both Sinjin, and Robbie."

"You up for this?" Tori asked.

"Yea, cause Trina said these are the people who've already forgiven me." Jade said, not sounding convinced. "I'm nervous, but it's Robbie and Sinjin. Them I can handle, cause, well, you know why. Of course, we're gonna be related to them all soon, cause Trina's marrying into that gene pool. So I guess I'm just gonna have to learn to get along with them, regardless of their current or former nerdiness."

Tori laughed, then had Jade run lines with her for a while. It took a little bit of time for Tori to start getting back into her acting mode, mostly because she had changed a lot since Hollywood Arts.

"I swear, this was so much easier, back in school." Tori griped.

"No, it was just easier to pretend the bad stuff happened to others, and try to imagine what it must have felt like." Jade countered. "I ran into the same problem making my horror film. At one point, I'm running in fear, pulling on the dark emotions that helped me make that feeling real in the past. Only, my past is even less sunny then it used to be, and I found myself feeling that fear, the real stuff, falling into a full blown panic attack. Lost nearly a week of filming getting control of myself. Then, I couldn't use that take, because the heroine is supposed to live, and that girl was so close to dying."

"Did you cover that chiz in therapy?" Tori asked.

"Eventually." Jade said. "I had other priorities at first. But yea, we did, and I've worked through a fair amount of that fear. Off point." She cupped her wife's fantastic cheekbones. "You, my love, are not the happy go lucky girl who went to Hollywood Arts. She had a deep faith in humanity, as well as her own ability to overcome. You, sweety, have been burned, more then once, and even have the emotional scars you lacked when you were trying to play a tough girl on the edge. Now, that character feels far to real, doesn't she? So yea, it's not gonna be easy, not at first, because A, you haven't been doing this for a while, and B, your emotional reserves are far different. Simply put, we need to help you relearn how to react."

"What do I get if I do well?" Tori asked. She knew they were only going over practice lines, that her real scrips wouldn't even be ready until next week. However, this was imporant, for the very reasons Jade had outlines. She needed to be ready.

"I'll take you out to eat on Friday." Jade offered with a smile.

"You mean, to our dinner with Sinjin, Trina, Robbie and Courtney?" Tori asked.

"Thats the one." Jade replied.

"I want a foot massage." Tori demanded.

"For getting your part right?" Jade asked, bot she was smiling.

"And doing the footwork on finding you that office everyone was saying you needed." The Latina pushed.

"Get the lines right, and figure out your emotions, and I'll give you a foot rub." Jade agreed.

"Should have asked for more, shouldn't I?" Tori asked.

"Too late now." Jade teased. "Negotiations are closed."

"Can I at least get some snuggles tonight?" Tori gave her best doe eyes.

"For learning your lines?" Jade once again asked.

"For needing a little comfort from my strong, beautiful and fairly busty wife." Tori smirked as she spoke.

"Sigh, why not." Jade gave in.

"Oh, and I want a pony." Tori tossed out quickly.

"No." Jade said, holding in the laughter.

The Latina was smiling, barely holding in her own chuckles. "What? I wanted to know if I was getting everything I wanted today." She pointed out. "Okay, my next line is..."

They worked long into the evening, with Jade's skills as a casting director helping Tori relearned her own skills as an actress. By the time they slipped into cuddling mode, both of them were certain that Tori was gonna knock it out of the park come Monday.

"Jade, is it possible you could maybe visit me on set Monday, for luck?" Tori asked.

"I have a couple of production meetings that day." Jade pointed out. "But I can schedule you some time, in between. That is, assuming I can find me a decent assistant."

"I'll talk to Beck, see if he knows anybody." Tori said, pressing her head into Jade's breasts. "My favorite pillows."

"We have a few days, so I should be able to get everything lined up." Jade purred, happy at the smile that crossed her wife's face. 'Vibrating titties. Who knew.' However, in the back of her mind, there was still the haunting specter of Cat, and what she might want to do to even their respective scores.

Jade was nervous the next day as she walked into the offices at Hollywood Bronson, Tori by her side, ready to fill out the paperwork for the lease. They were meeting someone from the studio, who would help hammer out the other details on how this lease was going to work. 'One year...' Jade thought. 'The studio is paying for one year of my lease here, and in return, I'm agreeing to make two movies of their choice. Gods, what have I done...'

"Miss West?" The Rental manager from the studio asked. She nodded, while he seemed to recognize her from her work. "Okay, the deal is this. The studio is planning on having some of the stuff your gonna produce made right here, including that pilot your gonna shoot for them."

"Pilot?" Tori asked.

"They want me to help their television market, so they have me producing a show." Jade explained. "Not even sure what kind of show it's gonna be, cause I haven't even started on the concept. All I know is, once we get a good show runner for it, they'll take over the hard parts. I just have to write a pilot, come up with the basic ideas, the characters, what kind of show it's gonna be, that chiz. Once the pilot is made, then the show runner will meet with me regularly, and be responsible for the production of the show. I'd only be involved in an overall planning sort of way."

"They could make a lot of money if things work out well." The manager said. "And they hope that miss West's name will help the show find viewers."

"But she's so new to entertainment…?" Tori wondered.

"And it takes time for a show to come together." Jade said. "By then, my next project should be in theaters, and my name all over the place. Yea, they planned this out. But hay, if it does last more then one hundred episodes, we could have another great source of money."

"Anyways, the studio's man is in the office, so we should get started." The manager said. "I swear, it would have been easier to do over lunch."

"Then I'd have had to be here afterwords." Jade replied. "There's a reason I wanted a meeting first thing in the morning."

"You can't be serious?" Tori asked. "Jade, babe, I'm gonna be on that show starting next Monday. And I intend for you to visit me on set." Earlier, before leaving from her interview, Tori had gone over things with Cat a couple of times, just to make sure of Cat's motives. She'd made Cat promise that helping her was just Cat being a good friend, and that whatever problems the scientist may have with her wife, they'd fine a non-harmful way of resolving things. 'Cat swore that she really did want to help me out, going so far as to promise that her set would be neutral ground. Or was it Jade's office? I need to make sure of that, cause my wife, she should be welcome on set...'

"Like Cat would let me on set." Jade griped.

"I thought you two settled your differences." Tori huffed. "I swear..." Inside, she was more nervous. 'Besides, I'm hoping that I'll be able to mediate things, keep them calm, friendly.'

"But thats her home turf." Jade said. "Tori, she's into science. Who knows what kind of chemicals and chiz she could have right there, waiting to turn me into a frog."

"She doesn't want you hurt." The Latina reminded her wife, and herself. "I swear, how is it your scared of her?"

"I'm not." Jade assured her wife. "I'm scared that I'll never be able to make things right with her. Tori, you saw her, you can see how hurt she still is. I have no idea who she is any more. She's working on her PhD. Cat. Working on a PhD. Thats not the girl I used to know."

"You know, your right." Tori shot back. "She's changed. She likes being smart, being the one everyone looks to for answers. And she's the one who found this place for us. Jade, she wants, maybe needs you back in her life, and she did everything she could to make that happen. You've spoken to her, after the party, so you know how much she misses your friendship."

"You can't go back." Jade whined.

"Don't wanna." Tori said so quickly, Jade almost couldn't believe she said it. "Look, I agree, it would have been nice to have had this, us, under different circumstances. But I was blacklisted, and you, you needed to grow up a bit, stop trying to both prove your dad wrong, and prove him right." She knew, unsaid, there was a landmine she'd unintentionally laid.

"Why'd I tell you about that?" The pale girl asked, choosing not to take offense at the thing issue she knew they were not talking about. 'She would never want that to happen to me again.'

"Because you wanted me to understand you more." Tori said, smirking, grateful that they weren't fighting over the part of that both wished never had happened. "So now, you have to live with the consequences of your actions. Cat still loves you like a sister."

"Tell me one sister who can hold a grudge like hers?" Jade challenged.

Amber eyes darkened, only for a laugh to echo through the building. "Remember Trina? She loves me, worked as hard as anyone to help be recover, and still demands I pay for some shoes she says I ruined. Baby, sisters are like that. She just needs you to be there for her again, and you may need to eat a lot of crow along the way, but we both know, you need this."

"Just as long as your not asking me to get back in touch with my parents." Jade snapped. They were walking into the Rental managers small office, looking for the studio's representative.

"Then you probably don't wanna know what I went and did." A new voice rang through their discussion.

"CAT?!" Jade screeched. The petite girl was sitting in the outer office, reading a magazine, looking fresh ready for the day, despite it being about eight in the morning, as early as the rental manager was willing to meat with them.

'Please say you didn't do anything bad...' Tori thought hard at the smaller girl.

"I found a way to both help you out, and cause you a lot of pain." The petite girl informed her old friend, raising to her feat. "Only, things didn't turn out the way I thought they would."

"What did you do, baby girl?" Jade asked, her eyes not leaving the now standing former redhead.

"I was gonna have your parents here today, since Mike here told me that you'd be coming in to go over the paperwork. Only…." Her brown eyes lingered on the rental manager, who apparently named Mike. "Mike, why don't you go over the paperwork with the guy from Jade's studio. He's in Phil's office, right now, and will get Jade here to sign the right places, go over the rules, everything, once you two are done."

"Yes, miss Valentine." Mike said, heading out.

"Okay, not giving away secrets now." Cat breathed, smiling a moment.

'What did you do?!' Tori thought again, holding Jade's hand hard, wanting her wife to know she didn't think for a second this was going to happen. 'Whatever this is.'

"You invited my parents?" Jade asked, showing a glimpse of the old Jade. "Cat, do you know what you've done?"

"I do now!" Cat hadn't yelled, but her voice was still full of a deep frustration. "Would have been nice if I'd known before. But nooo, it took my people doing a quickly background check so your parents could hang out near my show. You know, cause we have kids there, all the time. So imagine my surprise when I find out your mother's on the sex offenders list."

"Cat." Tori tried. "Please, don't..."

"So I called her, asked her what that was all about. I'm betting you know what she said." The brown eyed scientist continued.

"Don't." Jade warned.

"She denied doing anything wrong, blamed you." Cat continued. "But your dad, he was so willing to tell me everything. How could you keep that from me?" Hurt etched in her last seven words

"You think I was proud of what happened?" Jade asked, dropping Tori's hand, stepping away, so if she lost control, Tori would be safe. "That my mother, for whatever reason, let her boyfriends do whatever they wanted with me, then had the gall to be jealous of the time they'd spend abusing me?" Her hands were waving as she spoke.

"Bet the story her dad gave was a little different, wasn't it?" Tori asked, trying to deflect the fight she could plainly see coming. 'Cat, why? You promised, neutral territory...'

"No, thats close to what he told me." Cat said. "Jade just left out the rape when she was ten." Her deep brown eyes now burned into the taller goth. "Why, Jade? Why didn't you ever tell me? I could have helped. At the very least, I could have understood why you never wanted me alone with your family."

"Two reasons." Jade growled. "First, I was ashamed. My own mother, she never intended that chiz to happen to me. She just assumed that somehow, I caused it, and got jealous of the attention her men were showing me. Later, after I'd lived with my dad a while, after I could defend myself, we had a much better relationship. Up until the day..." Her voice faded, old tears threatening to make a return appearance.

"The day they disowned you, cause they were both so sure you would cost them money." Cat filled in. "And now, your a success, and your mom can't be here to talk to you, cause she's a child molester, while your dad could be here, but has no interest in seeing you right now."

Jade looked wounded, again. Tori stepped over to take her wife in her arms, only to have a blur slam into the pale girl, squeezing her as tears flowed into the blue eyed girls chest. "Oh Jadey, is this why you couldn't come to me?"

"Don't call me..." Jade started.

"I only wanted us to be even, so we could be friends again." Cat continued, her body shaking. But that was almost unnoticed, since Cat was holding onto Jade like the taller girl might disappear if she let go. "Can we be friends again? I miss you."

"I miss you too, baby girl." Jade said, her voice growing softer. An arm wrapped around the petite girl, returning the hug. Jade's other arm reached out, feeling around until she grabbed Tori's arm, pulling her wife closer. "We can be friends again. We just need to figure out what thats gonna mean." She sighed. 'Sad thing is, this isn't the worst thing you've ever done to me, little sissy/ It's just, like majorly inconvenient. Oh yea, and emotionally painful as shit.'

Cat let go, smiling. Only, the smile turned into a frown. "How could you keep that from me?" She asked, slapping Jade's arm. Three more quick slaps hit the goth, before another quick hug. "Why didn't you tell me you were hurting. You could have told me, not let your pride cause you so much pain."

"And the second reason, we never knew if you could have handled knowing what happened to her?" Tori said. "Sorry."

Cat stepped back, sniffing once. "No, I get that." She smiled. "Back then, I was a mess. People thought my brother was trouble, but he didn't have Jade looking out for him." She glared a weak, harmless glare at Jade. "You could have told me that. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not that scared little girl any more. I grew up."

"So you don't have an apartment full of stuffies?" Jade asked.

"I grew up, not went insane." Cat said, smiling. "Yes, I love my stuffies. But many women do that. I'm also working on my PhD, have studied chemistry, metallurgy, and a bunch of other physical sciences. I know stuff. I'm here, teaching kids science every week. And..." Her eyes lit up, "I'm an associate producer on my show. Not a lot of power, not a lot of influence, but I'm in production. That means I had a lot of say in getting Tori hired. That, and they really hate the Carson's around here."

"How much influence do the Carson's have here?" Jade asked. "As in, outside your Learning Live group, how much influence do they have?"

"Lots." Cat said, smiling. "But the industry is very different when your dealing with children's educational television. Lots of other voices, and those voices often are hyper worried about what blacklisting's might be hiding. They're the type to look behind the blackballing, find out why. You'll have a lot of allies here." Cat smiled. "Oh, yea, international television also tends to be outside the Carson's reach, because they're a bit more of an insular group. They trust recommendations, so if you can find someone to vouch for you, you get off the blackballing. We've lost a couple of back stage people to them. Hell, depending on the reason, just working can get you off the list, as long as the people who hire you can resist the influence of those enforcing your blackballing."

Tori smile, almost beaming from the reuniting of the two. Cat, however, wasn't done yet. "Jade, I said we're even, but not quite." She continued. "I gave your parents your number, and I'm gonna give them your new address. But all thats worthless if you don't talk to them, work out your issues."

"She's right." Tori echoed. "Baby, it's time."

"Tori, sweety, you just..." Jade sounded cautious.

"NO!" Tori barked. "You don't get to tell me that they're not like my parents. I already figured that shit out. No, you need to talk to them, let them know how much they hurt you, so you can let go. Jade, baby, you may not realize it, but we have made plans that include children. One day, they're gonna wanna know about their grandparents. I've made peace with my parents, so it's time for you to at least make the attempt to find peace with yours."

Jade's shoulders slumped. "Tori, you know how busy I'm about to be, right?"

Cat watched with interest as Tori took her wife in her arms, offering a light squeeze. "Lets see, your making a movie, in pre-production for two more, have a television show to create, and not only are about to move into a nice new home, but now have this wonderful office your moving into. Oh yea, you'll probably be hiring staff as we go forward. However, for the short term, I can work mornings for you, answering phones, as long as my work with Cat doesn't take too much time."

"Shouldn't take too long." Cat assured her. "We'll need you, on set, but we can work with you until Jade here finds herself competent help."

"Sounds like a plan." Tori said. "So we should be able to squeeze in time for you to get together with your parents, maybe start the process of making peace. Now come, lets go find Mike, and get those papers signed."

Jade sighed. "Sure."

"You don't sound too happy." Tori said.

"Now I have to talk to my parents." Jade groaned. "And it feels like others are planning out my life."

"Oh honey, we planned out your life months ago." Tori assured her. "Right now, we're just comparing notes and making adjustments."

"If I'm right, you should be able to move in to your new office by Monday." Cat guessed as she shadowed them to the office.

"We're moving into the new house this weekend." Tori told her.

"I'll be by to help out." Cat told her. "Does it have a built in barbecue grill?"

"Yea?" Jade sounded skeptical.

"Then I'll do the cooking, and bring my man along to do the heavy lifting." Cat smiled. "Your gonna love him. Just, not that way, cause your all married and gay now."

"There's the Cat we used to know and love." Jade said, but she felt better, having that part of her life coming back. 'If only it didn't mean dealing with mom and dad...'

:}

Okay, that was kinda all over the place. It suffers from being both real, and unrealistic, cause while this kind of resolution does happen, not in the movies where you keep telling yourself that it was too easy. But it didn't wanna be written any other way. So, Sorry?

Anyways, complains, comments, love or hat for any of the people involved, even commentary on what a diva Mike was, put it in the comments.

I love parts of this. Tori negotiating for a foot massage, that whole conversation was fun. Then, cat's last line was nice. Anyways, comments are appreciated. Thanks for reading.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious, any of it's character, and let be honest, I borrow from other sources as well. Who can spot the guest star in this chapter?

Warning, covers some hevey, and possibly triggering subjects. This chapter is a bit lighter, but you've been warned.

:}

Friday came far too quickly, with Jade busy working on her next project, as well as the other projects that the studio had heaped upon her in return for their help in her getting her office, the office they wanted her to have. But Tori did see her wife, helped her set up the office, and even sat with her on the first interview with someone who wanted to be one of her assistants.

"So, mister Barret, what makes you want to work in film?" Jade asked, Tori sitting next to her, giving the African American boy a strong look. The office they were in had wood paneled walls, giving it a warm, welcoming feel. Jade sat with her back to the desk, a computer atop it, in the comfortable office chair she'd dragged around to the front of the desk to better face the boy.

"One of my roommates, back in high school, his dad made films. Didn't think much about it then. But later, in collage, I realized that maybe I did want to do more then play sports. Of course, it helps that I got hurt." The medium height boy looked nervous. "Okay, honestly, I did play sports professionally, for a minute, but I got injured playing arena football. After that, my love of the web show I once worked on, did it with my best friend, but that love came to mind, and I decided to give entertainment a shot. I wanna learn how to do everything behind the camera, and figured working for someone with Miss Wests reputation would give me that chance."

"Why?" Tori asked. "You think she's that hard to work with?"

"NO!" He threw out quickly. "Nothing like that. I… I just figured she'd done so much on her first film, she'd be able to help me learn." His hands were bouncing, showing how nervous he was. "Not that I'm just here to learn. I get it, hard work. I can work hard. Just give me a shot, and I'll show you I'm capable of contributing to the success of this company." He was sweating, barely, but enough for Tori to see.

"Okay, I've heard enough." Jade announced, picking up her copy of his resume from the desk

"How bad did I screw up?" The boy asked. He was nervous, mostly because he wasn't used to taking risks like this.

Jade checked his resume. "Listen, Mike… Great, another Michael."

"They do happen." Tori commented, giving her wife a playful nudge.

"Okay, Mike, answer me two questions, and I'll be able to tell you if you start Monday, or should already be running." Jade gave her most predatory smile. "First, why are you glancing at my wife like that?"

"Okay, miss, I.. It's just, hell." He shifted to ask Tori a question. "Are you related to a Lola Martinez?"

"No, not really?" Tori said, glancing at her wife.

"Girl I knew, in high school, wanted to be an actress." The boy admitted. "Your wife looks a lot like her. Then again, she also looks a lot like Shelby Marks too..." He let that sit.

"So your not making eyes at my wife?" Jade asked, clarifying her position.

"God, no." Michael said, looking oddly revealed. "I'm not the kind of guy who makes a play for someone else's woman. No, I was just, she looks an awful lot like Lola."

"Are you scared of me?" Jade asked.

"Before this moment, not really." He said, but it was obvious that the pale woman made him nervous. "But now that you mention it..."

"Then I believe we can work together." Jade announced. "I have a lot of projects that need to get done. I'll do what I can to train you, teach to fill in as much as possible for me in the various tasks I'll need done. However, it's gonna take us a while to get you to ready to be more then be an assistant."

"So I'm just an assistant?" He asked.

"For now." Jade said. "So, see you Monday. I'll be doing a shit tone of interviews, and will need your help going through the vast numbers of applicants."

"Um, Babe, there really will be a lot of applicants." Tori said, not quite quiet enough. "We'll probably have hundreds we'll have to weed through. I was thinking, maybe we could ask for some help? Like maybe Trina would be willing to pull herself away from her PR business to help us find the right people?"

The door to the office opened, revealing Robbie Shapiro. "Tori, Jade, good to see you both!" Robbie said as he walked in. "The manager told me you were here, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what you were doing in his office?"

"This man had his resume on a memory stick, and wanted an interview." Tori said. "I convinced the manager to let us print up the resume, and do the interview here."

"Takes a lot of guts to approach someone at a restaurant and ask for an interview." Jade said. "Obviously, he wasn't anywhere near ready for it. But it's all good. Rob, meet my new assistant."

"Hi, I'm Robbie." Rob introduced himself. "Robbie Shapiro. I work with HBO, helping them produce comedy specials."

"Michael Barret, late of the Los Angeles Kiss." The boy said. "I got injured just before the team folded, and wound up going back to school. But you don't really care about that, do you?"

"Nahh." Rob said. "Look, I'd invite you to dinner, but we have things to discuss, and I suspect it'll get about as personal as you can get in a restaurant." He gestured, waning the girls to follow him to their table.

"No problem." Mister Barret said. "And Miss West, thanks for taking the time to speak to me. You won't regret it."

"I'll email you the address of the office." Jade said. They stopped in a sort of hall way, where there was both a clear shot to an outside door, and into the restraint.

"It's at Hollywood Bronson." Tori added.

"See you Monday." Mike said. "Eight a.m."

"Great, now I have to be there by eight." Jade groaned, stomping her way towards where Robbie indicated their table was..

"And out again by nine." Tori said. "Well, probably not Monday. We won't be ready to set up interview until Wednesday at the earliest, but hay, I'll get Trina, and maybe Rob here, to come in, help out. Then, the finalist will be sent to talk to you." She led them out to the table, where Courtney was sitting. "Hay Court. Hows life?"

"Not bad." She said. "I'm helping Trina plan her wedding. Could have helped plan the invasion of Europe, but I drew the short straw. Guess I can't always win." Her hand was now touching Robbie's as he took his seat.

"It's not that bad." Tori assured her, taking her own seat. Jade sat next to her, scrounging a menu to see what looked good. "I'd help, but I'm gonna be on television again." She sang the last pert, almost unable to contain her excitement. "But, I'm also helping my woman find staff for her new office, conveniently located near where I'm filming my roll as the skeptical neighbor in the New Doctor Science show." Tori looked at Jade. "I hope thats not the name, cause it's kind of boring."

"Adventured in discovery with Doctor Science." Robbie said. "So your working with Cat, huh? Good. And Jade's new office is right near by?" His voice grew more nervous as he watched his friends. He was sinking, as if the table would protect him.

"Cat and I have worked out most of our issues." Jade said, rolling her eyes. "So, I know your busy, but any chance you could help me out next week? I'm gonna be hiring a bunch of people to fill rolls in my production company, and I really don't know what to do first."

"I'll make up a list of what you'll need." Robbie said. "For some companies, they keep it simple, only have as many people as they need for the one project a year they do. But I'm thinking, in addition to making your projects, you'll have a horde of side projects, so you'll need a staff. I'm talking about people who find locations, deal with writers, everything. I'll send you a list."

"You said that." Tori said.

"Wait, you don't..." Jade asked.

"Okay, I missed something." Courtney said, looking at the smiles on both Robbie's and Jade's faces.

"Rob here knows a lot of people in the business, right?" Jade asked.

"Oh!" Tori gasped. Then to Courtney. "He's sending a list of people to interview. People very qualified to fill those positions."

"Many of them will be kinda green." Rob acknowledged. "But they can gain experience under Jade's watchful eyes. Plus, they have done something like the work you need done."

"Of course, we won't be filling all the positions like that, just a couple." Jade added.

"But those will be most of what you need filled." Tori finished. "Meanwhile, the horde of applicants we'll go through will be for assistants and a couple of related positions. Don't worry, even part time, I'll be able to help out."

"I'll ask Sinjin to help too." Courtney said. "He's good at that kind of chiz."

"Ask me what?" The lanky boy asked as he approached.

"Jade here is opening her office." Courtney said. "As in real office, and she needs help doing the interviews."

"Have you placed the adds yet?" Sinjin asked.

"Kinda..." Jade hesitated. "We planned one out, but then Rob here said we would need to figure out what we'd need first. So the one add I've placed, on Tradelist, saying I'm looking for an assistant, is the only one we'll be getting responses from."

"And you've already placed that add?" Sinjin asked, his eyes narrowed.

"It's not like I included names." Jade said. "Let me show you..." She pulled out her phone, showing the lanky boy the add, in all it''s glory.

"Pull it." He said.

"But..." Jade tried to protest.

"The adds to vague, to generic." Sinjin explained. "Rob, you have your tablet?"

"Always." Robbie said.

"Great, we'll just whip up the add over diner, and post it before we head out for desert." Sinjin said. "Tori, have you eaten here before? They're famous for their light fare. Given the number of women we were expecting, I felt this would be a great place to eat. Then, we go where no one is looking, and splurge on desert."

"Normally, I'd be toying with Jade's leash, ready to let her go." Tori warned. "But I actually kinda like that idea. So, whats good here?"

"Everything." Courtney said. "I told Trina here, we had to make it our mission to try everything, one dish at a time. Given how often we eat here, while plotting her impending nuptials, we've made some good progresses towards that goal."

"The chicken censer is surprisingly good." Trina chirped out. "But get the chicken California. Kinda heavy, but it's a fruit salad hybrid, and it's sooo good."

Tori closed her menu. "Sold." She said.

"So, how'd it go with Cat?" Trina asked.

"She kinda told my parents where we live." Jade said, not looking past her menu. She hated how vulnerable just mentioning her parents made her feel.

"Good." Trina said. She smirked as Jade almost dropped her menu. "Jade, this problem you have with your folks, it's gotta end. Maybe now isn't the time, maybe it is, but your not getting together to bond. Maybe that'll happen, or maybe you'll call them things you haven't since, I don't know. The point is, this isn't about making the family, it's about healing. You. And to do that, you have to face them, let them know exactly how much they hurt you. I know, it's scary. But if you don't, they'll always control a part of you. It's why some girls confront their rapist."

"And many girls don't." Courtney countered. "Trina, you have no idea how bad this could be for them. I…" She sighed, looking around for the waiter. "Lets order first, okay. This is gonna get ugly, and I'll need food to get through it."

They placed their orders, and Tori hoped that would be the end of the uncomfortable conversation. It wasn't.

"I had a friend, a girl I grew up with." Courtney started. "She had issues with her family, cause her cousin, he raped her, and they swept it under the rug. Like it was the boy's right to rape her. Then, to make things worse, she got really dark. Like Jade level dark,. Into drugs and shit. And she, she tried to tell them, let hem know how much she was hurting. But they wouldn't listen. They told her to just ignore the pain, let it go, move on. And I so wish she had, because then maybe she wouldn't have done that stupid, stupid thing she did..."

"She took her own life?" Trina asked, almost ashamed to be saying that out loud.

"No, she became a trophy wife." Courtney said. "Before you say anything, she gave up. Her husband, he's the type to make all the decisions, old enough to be her father, and he treats her like a possession. And she lets him. They have a child, are expecting their second, and thats gonna be it. She plans on living the rest of her life as his plus one, never worrying about what she wants in life. She just gave up and went with the flow. If she hadn't confronted them..."

"Then maybe she'd be in the exact same place." Tori said, tired of this melodrama filling all the available space at the table. "Look, I get that, sometimes, confronting the person who hurt you isn't possible, or easy, or is likely to change anything. But to you, as the wounded party, it can be eye opening. There are people, rare as they are, who when they confront their abusive parent, they discover that the parents had only ever been an excuse, and they can take responsibility for their lives."

"Like Jade needs to take responsibility for being a success?" Trina asked.

"Yes, she fucking does." Tori almost screamed, forcing herself to sit back down. "Yes, she needs to take responsibility for her own fucking success. Maybe I helped, or the people at Soft Touch. Hell, I'll give everyone at this table an assist, cause in school, I'm sure we did something that helped her. Just not those fucktard genetic donors who had eighteen years to try to get it right, and how close did they get? Her dad feels she needed to toughen up, AFTER knowing what she'd been through. And her mother, her mother. I'll bet she still blames Jade for those assaults. She's probably thinking 'Hell, maybe if Jade wasn't such an attention whore bitch, one of my relationships might have worked out.' Fuck that shit. It's just noise, and I have every intent of telling her parents that, all of that, when we see them."

"Maybe you should plan a referee for that confrontation?" Courtney said, not sure she liked this side of Tori.

"And where was that fire when we talked to Cat?" Jade asked. "I mean, yea, it worked out, cause I knew where she was coming from. Girl just wanted to be friends again, and it's my fault she couldn't just forgive. I was the one who always had to have some kind of revenge before I could forgive her. I set the rules, set the norm. If I'd ever been able to accept that she just couldn't help herself, then maybe I'd be in a better place right now."

"About to move into a huge ass mansion?" Trina asked. "By the way, I'm calling Cat, telling her to skip the move in help. Hire yourself some people for that chiz. She can come by after, while your arranging everything, and help out then." Trina already had her phone out, making the call. "What? Tori and I talk. And Tori, call Dad, cause I'm sure he'd love to see that house."

The girls settled down, while the boys kept working on their side project. "Um, Tori, quick question." Robbie said.

"What?" She snapped, still upset.

"Fucktard?" He asked.

"Yea, I kinda swear now." Tori said. "I think I'm allowed, all things considered."

"Actually, it's not that..." Robbie started.

"What?' Jade asked, now more curious then anything else. She was hurting, but her wife's anger was refreshing.

"I just, well..." He shifted. "Why do I think thats may well be the best description of parents who gave the world the messed up child we all know and love?"

"Good save." Sinjin said.

"Hay, those are my parents." Jade growled.

"And as the man who used to stalk you, let me just say, a very accurate description that, if it insult anyone, insults Fucktards." Sinjin gave a huge smile. "But that doesn't change the way I feel about my soon to be sister in law. Jade, we love you, want nothing but the best for you, and accept that your parents are fucktards. As for Cat, Tori, why didn't you go all defensive rush when she confronted Jade?"

"Because Cat wants whats best for her." Tori said. "Yea, maybe her parents are a bit much, but as I've said, Jade needs to confront them, sooner or later. I just..."

"Still see Cat the way she used to be?" Jade asked. "All friendly and innocent? It's hard to see her as malicious. Took me by surprise she could go all dark like that, contacting my parents."

"God, she fooled you too?" Trina asked. "Cat got older, better educated, but she hasn't really grown up all that much. She just learned how to survive. If she had grown up, then she wouldn't have wanted the revenge. No, she'd have wanted Jade back, no mater what, because she calls her a sister, and I believe she really feels that way. Hell, I like her, enjoy my time around her. But Cat, she's not the same as she was. She's a sexually active serial monogamist, who acts like that makes it okay. She hasn't learned how to forgive, because she hasn't forgiven herself for being dependent on others. No, I'm glad she's back in your life, Jade, but I see her for who she is, and accept her as that. Still the child in the group. But now, at least, she's on your side. Hate to be the first person who says anything bad about you in her presence. Except maybe Tori, cause Cat, she does understand how much work a relationship can be. Just, Tori?"

"Yes?" Tori asked nervelessly. 'Didn't like the last time one of these questions was tossed my way.'

"If you do use her as a sounding board, she'll expect explicit details, and then will ask you not to swear." Trina filled in. "Cause she a scientist, who works with children."

Sinjin, Robbie and Courtney all laughed. But Tori, and Jade beside her, couldn't find anything funny in that statement. Luckily, their dinners arrived, and they had other things to think about.

Later, Trina would go over the add Sinjin and Robbie had made up, dump it, and pen a press release for Jade. "It'll be easier on all of us, and let the world know your looking for competent staffing. Moreover, done right, it'll let the world know you're now a player in the industry."

"Enough to defy the Carsons?" Tori asked.

"Not yet." Trina said. "Not quite yet… But it's coming, baby sis. It's so coming. And when that day comes, I'm so writing your acceptance speech. After all, you swear ow, and I intend to use that."

:}

Okay, I originally forgot to include Sinjin, just wanting to get through Michael. I had to do a rewrite to include all the people Jade was supposed to b having dinner with. Then, I realized I wanted the press release, not an add, so added the last part. Hope you enjoyed it.

So, thoughts? Anyone brave enough to approach someone, at a restaurant, and try to gt an interview? Would that even work? Anyone believe for a second that a salad, fruit salad hybrid would be good? Just review, let me know what you think, cause I kinda wanna know.

Next time, moving day.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Not only do I not own Victorious or any of it's characters, I don't even make any money out of writing this stuff. Just thought you should know.

Warning: Some heavy, and possibly triggering subjects are discussed in this story. Thius chapter should be safe.

:}

The next day, Tori and Jade moved into their new home. Cat had agreed to wait and help them sort things out on Sunday, after they'd had their chance to set things up a bit. Jade tried to stay out of the way, claiming decorating rights for only the small spaces she was gonna use, while Tori oversaw the men moving their furniture, including the many new things they'd recently acquired to fill in the vast amounts of open spaces. "You know," Tori said to her wife, "This might be the time to have a party. I mean, we have so much open space right now. Who knew ten thousand square feet could be so hard to fill?"

"I'd intended for us to fill that space together." Jade said. "Our old furniture..."

"I'd wanted to burn most of that." Tori pointed out. "Cause a lot of it, that was mine, from just before you met me, and I don't wanna have anything reminding me of that life. Only, turns out some of that stuff holds memories. I mean good memories. Memories of us."

Jade smiled. "Keep whatever you want. We have more then enough attic space for now. If you just wanna hang on for a bit, we can do that. Then, later, maybe we go through, see what memories you wanna keep, and what you can let go of."

Tori laughed. "I only see one problem with this wonderful home."

"Okay, what can we fix?" Jade asked.

"I have no idea which room to break in first." Tori teased.

"Oh my god, I'd hoped you were kidding about that." Jade blushed, the reddening standing out on her pale flesh. "I mean, of course, the kitchen, cause you gotta do it in the kitchen. Then maybe the living room. We have our new couch, plus the old one, and we still have space. I see what you mean about a party."

"Relax, I was kidding." Tori assured her wife. "I never dreamed we'd have this much space. I mean, yea, I used to dream about a nice big home of our own. But gods, ten thousand square feet is a lot once your in it, looking around. And we have a whole acre lot? I think I'm gonna love living here."

"So this really makes you happy?" Jade asked, a strong note of hope on her voice.

"Happier, bitch." Tori countered. "I'm plenty happy being married to you. Having my dream house, a shot at getting my dream career back, that chiz makes me happier. I'd show you just how happy it makes me, but dad is due to drop by any minute now with his new girl, and the last thing I need is for them to catch us screwing in the entryway."

"Then let me take you upstairs..." Jade's smile faltered. "That didn't come out right. I just want to show you something..."

Tori was laughing now, trying not to lose it completely. They both knew how easy it was to let innuendo ruin a perfectly normal conversation. "Please, my dad will be here any minute. We don't have time. Not if we cuddle afterwards. Maybe, if you were a guy..." Tori totally lost it, laughing so hard she almost fell down.

Jade just shook her head. "I wanted to show you my trailer, the home office I had set up. You can see it from one of the upstairs windows. Of course, I could easily have an office in the house, given the many rooms, but I have the trailer, and I wanna keep it. I kinda have fond memories of that place."

"W-We keep it." Tori managed to say, getting control of her laughter. "Babe, we keep it, use it as an office until we need it for something else. You can use it as an on sight office for whatever movie you make, and have it towed back here afterwords for storage. It'll give you consistency."

Jade nods, smiling at her lover. "Baby, you're so good to me."

"I try." Tori said, smiling. "So, dad should be here soon."

"Good." Jade said, sighing.

"Whaat?" Tori asked, even as she got a buzz from the front gate, letting her know her father had entered the community.

"I kinda need a favor from your parents." Jade admitted.

"Okayyy." Tori said skeptically.

"I just want him here for our housewarming party." Jade insisted. "I'm gonna invite all your friends, and some of them may have issues with me."

"I thought we'd worked through all of that." Tori said, shaking her head. "Cat's forgiven you, Beck is willing to work on his old issues… Hows that 'him getting a roll in your film' idea working out?"

"The studio went for it." Jade said. "Beck's the star in my movie. I'm playing his best friend, helping him get through dating and the drama that comes with. They talked a couple of starlets into playing some of the love interests, so I'm not carrying the whole entourage part on my own. But yea, they're risking my reputation and Beck's looks to draw people into this film. I'm gonna have to make sure the comedy parts are funny."

"I have faith in you." Tori assured her wife. "Hay, Beck's unlikely to want much in the way of rewrites, right?"

"He already asked for one." Jade said. "I had it so my character and his were childhood friends, but straight. He wanted me to make my character a lesbian, claiming that otherwise, people would ask why they never tried hooking up. I had their history include a failed relationship, maybe even had a reference to it. Jam it, it's based on you and Andre. You two were friends, the best of friends, and he never wanted to hookup with you."

"Jam it?" Tori asked. "Since when do you not just scream 'fuck it,' then go forward."

"I do that so often, it doesn't feel special." Jade said. There was a ringing sound that was obviously the doorbell. Jade smiled. "Love that, don't you. All melodious and shit." Then she called out "COME ON IN, THE DOORS OPEN!"

The front door opened revealing David Vega and a woman neither girl knew. A blond, maybe five three, with a tight, curvaceous figure and full breasts, was holding his hand. She was maybe thirty five at the oldest.

"Hi girls. Tori, Jade, this is Annette. Annie, this is my daughter, Tori, and her wife, Jade." David introduced.

"Hi." Annie said, smiling. "I was told Tori was gay now, but I hadn't realize she was with a rich girl. I guess that makes this okay."

Both Tori and Jade inhaled, as David broke out laughing. "Annie used to believe that anti gay chiz, but she isn't like that any more."

"Who knew, dating a cop, you'd have to give up some of my hard taught Midwestern Christian values." Annette said. "Okay, the Midwest isn't so closed minded, but the people who raised me, they tried to make me what they thought was a good Christian. Naturally, I had no idea that I was so out of touch before I had to choose between my brother, who's not gay, he just got quote 'woke' unquote, and my home town. Guess what? I live in California now. I'd already learned that gays, minorities, everything the closed minded people from my home town, who I should point out corrupted Christianity to support their own agendas, that almost everything they taught me was wrong. Only, I never got woke. I just realized I'd been lied too, and that the kids of my generation and younger don't hate on that stuff nearly as much. Still, I'm dating a cop, so I'm still holding onto some of my old values. You know, the good ones."

"Um, dad?" Jade asked, looking very nervous.

"Call me David." The cop said. "And I know, this is a lot to take in. Give yourself a moment."

Pushing forward, Jade said "I may need a favor or two from you.?"

"Okay, what?" The man asked. "I doubt you're looking to borrow money."

"Cat and I, we're working on reconnecting, and I used to do things, punish her, as part of forgiving her." Jade explained. David looked on expectantly. "So, anyways, turns out, the shit I did, seven years ago, it hurt her a lot more then I'd expected, and so she felt she had to do something to hurt, or help, or I have no clue what. So she's been in contact with my parents."

"I suspect I know where this is going." David said. "I can call a guy I know, get a legal, civilian background check on them."

"NO!" Jade rushed. "I.. I know their flaws. I just, they're gonna wanna see me, some time, maybe. So I'm just thinking, maybe I can have you there, as extra cover, when I do meet up with them."

"You have a plan for when?" Tori asked.

"The housewarming party you wanted to throw?" Jade suggested.

"No." David said. "This feel like it needs to be done in a more intimate setting. Why don't we plan a dinner, just us, your parents, Holly, the guy she's seeing, and maybe Trina and Sinjin. We do that the day before the party, as a getting to know you event, and you can talk to your parents then."

"Still a lot of people." Annie pointed out.

"But it won't feel that way." David said. "It'll feel like the families getting together, meeting. That way, they won't realize you'd asked for the extra security."

"Sounds like a plan." Jade agreed. She looked relieved.

"We have the party next Saturday, and the dinner Friday." Tori offered. "I'm sure we can swing that."

"Sure." Jade agreed.

Tori edged closer to her father. "And do the background check."

"Planning on it." He whispered back.

Jade was, meanwhile, talking to Annie. "Um not to press, but aren't you kinda young for mister Vega?"

"Yep." Annette said, not blinking. "And before you say anything, it's not a daddy thing. Okay, maybe it is, but I like older men. But I'm not looking for a sugar daddy. I have my own money, thanks you very much."

"Like I have, or just can take care of yourself?" Jade looked at her sideways.

"I'm not rich, but I do alright." Annie said. "I work for a church, as a pastor."

"You're a pastor?" Jade asked, trying not to sound to shocked.

"Junior, but hay, it's not like their giving away the head positions in that church." Annie assured Jade. "Thats how David and I met. He goes to my church, and I was running a group he volunteered to talk at. We kinda clicked, and I liked his story. Did you know he fought his way back from a career ending injury, sitting behind a desk, to a place on the major crimes squad?"

"All in the last year and a half." Jade agreed. "I was with Tori when they started working to reconnect. She encouraged him, and he helped her, and things just clicked." Jade looked out the window. "So, how long you two known each other?"

"A year." Annie said. "And, well, yea, I can tell you. We're talking about getting married. The big hangup is, his kids are grown, and mine, from my first marriage, are still young."

"So, what broke up you previous marriage?" Jade asked, catching the blonds eyes with her own. "Sorry, that was insensitive of me. You don't have to tell me."

"It's okay, I can talk about this now." Annette said. "My first husband died in the middle east, about four years ago."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Jade said, now more embarrassed she'd thought badly of the girl.

"He was working for Constellis Holdings, Inc., and wound up in a situation the military said he shouldn't have been in." Annie said. "I mourned him, wished he'd never gone that rout. But he was lured by the money. Turns out, a mercenary slash security consultant can make a lot more then a soldier. So he was off, playing soldier of fortune, and got killed when the convoy he was guarding got hit, hard. Again, the military said they shouldn't have been there."

Jade's hand was on her arm, offering as much comfort as she could. The blond continued. "I have two children, ten and eight, and their gonna need a strong father figure as they approach their teens. But I'm with David mostly because we kinda connect, and he is the kind of man I'm attracted too. So, we cool?"

"Yea, we're cool." Jade assured her. Then the pale girl called out to her wife. "Tori, Annie here has something to tell you."

"That the main reason she and dad haven't married yet is she still wants another kid, and hes not sure he can deal?" Tori asked. "Dad just told me. Babe, why don't you show them around. I wanna check on dinner."

"You cooking?" David asked. He was trying to hide his growing desire to eat out.

Tori humphed. "I can cook. I learned, during the lean years. But no, Jade order us some pre-made chiz, and I'm gonna warm it up. But next time, I'm so cooking for us all."

"I'm down with that." Jade said. "Tori's actually gotten much better at food prep. Hell, maybe she could have her own cooking show?"

"Nahh, she's a sweetheart, and in the modern world, you have to be a douche, or people won't watch." Annette said, smiling. "So, show us the house."

Jade gestured, leading them towards her first thing she wanted to show off. "It's just over ten thousand square feet…"

Sunday, Cat came by to help out, and see the place. "Love it, love it, LOVE IT!" Cat screams as she walked through the entry way. "So, what can I do to help?"

"I don't know, maybe call my parents, let them know we're having a dinner, just family, on Friday. See if they can come?" Jade said, even as she let her petite friend give her a tight hug.

"So, I'm supposed to be here Friday?" Cat asked. "Wait, where are we eating? Should I bring a date? My producer boyfriend is having family problems, plus he's working for another network now, and so he's not as available as he used to be. I could bring someone, I guess. Just, I need to maintain a certain image, cause I'm a roll model now."

"We're having this dinner to give me a safe space to confront my parents." Jade said. "I've asked Tori's dad to be there, and he suggested I invite them to dinner. Just, I haven't spoken to them in such a long time, and I'm not sure what I'd say if I did get one of them on the phone."

"I wanna be there." Cat said.

"We're keeping it just family, as in just those we can prove are family, so as to not scare them off." Jade explained. "If it makes you feel better, Tori and me, we're also having a housewarming party on Saturday. You could come to that, see them then. I just, you're right, I need to do this. I just don't know what to say to them."

Cat's phone was already at her ear. "Mister West, Cat Valentine here. I was wondering, would you be free this Friday? Jade's having a get together, apparently only for family, and she wanted to know if you'd be able to make it."

Jade watched with anticipation, as Cat turned the phone to speaker. "Could you repeat that please?"

Jade's fathers voice rand out from the device. "I said I have a business diner that evening, so I won't be able to make it. Tell her I'd be interested in seeing her, maybe, if another day could be arranged. Maybe she could reschedule?" Jade's face fell, while Cat switched speaker off.

"Sorry, but that won't be possible. Her spouses mother is flying in for the housewarming party on Saturday, and will be flying out late Sunday. We really can't reschedule this dinner. Are you sure you can't…" Cat somehow managed to smile, despite herself. "I see. Well, how about this, you come to the housewarming party. I mean, it's hardly ideal but... Okay, I'll pout you down as a maybe. Text me if it becomes a definite." She hung up. "Jerk."

"Cat?" Jade asked.

"He said his business meeting just cannot be rescheduled, and if you wanted him in your life, you'd have to reschedule everything, including misses Vega's visit." The scientist said. "Pity, I really wanted to be there when you confronted that jerk. Saturday, we might be doing something with Learning Live. I hope to be able to make it, but I'll need to check on a few things first." Her phone started playing an old Thomas Dolby song. "Wait, I got me a call, from your mother..." She answered. "Hello, what?" There was a brief pause. "Sure, I'll let her know..." Cat hung up. "Both parents will be there at your housewarming party. I'm to have you text them the deets."

"Thanks." Jade said. "I really should have called them myself, but for whatever reason, I still don't wanna have them think less of me..."

'Like thats possible.' Cat thought with disdain, even as she kept the warm smile on her face and asked "Where's Tori?"

"Helping Trina choose centerpieces ideas for her wedding." Jade said. "I stayed for your visit, and to show you around."

"Screw that shit." Cat said. "Lets go help plan that wedding. Girl boning time, here we come." She hesitated. "Um, Jade, could you drive. I took my hog today, and we both know it's not really set up for two riders."

Sighing, Jade led the way to her car, It was, like so many of Jade's things, nondescript. A silver Chevy Volt 4 door, it looked like the commuter car for a middle class breadwinner, not the main vehicle for one of the hottest director slash producer slash writer slash star's out there on the market. It was Jade's car, a gift from the studio for her first movie making so much money.

They drove for only a few moments before Cat asked "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Jade asked back.

"You gave in." Cat said. "I thought, once we were even, you'd stop giving in. Is this because of what happened?"

"I like to save my fights for when I have something to gain." Jade said with a shrug.

"I'm calling bullshit." Cat said, glaring at her friend. "I expected you to want to hang with your wife, but not help out with the wedding planning. I was thinking you'd be there, making dark themed jokes, like having the theme of the wedding be a funeral, and then just stealing the center pieces off of graves. But you gave in."

"You called my parents for me." Jade tried.

"No, this goes deeper then that." Cat continued. "Now, lets go over something. See, I'd assumed you went along with my demands for an apology cause you knew you were wrong..."

"That wasn't it." Jade said, taking a big breath, warring with herself over what came next. "Baby girl, I gave in because I felt this was my fault."

"How so?" Cat asked. "I mean, if you weren't in the wrong, how could it be your fault?"

"I always demanded you do something to repent, back in high school. So naturally, that was the nature of our friendship..." Jade tried to explain.

"No, thats hardly it." Cat said.

"It's why I was willing to just go with it." Jade said.

"No, thats probably a lie, too." Cat continued. "I know you, Jade, and this doesn't feel like you. It feels like, I don't know, maybe..."

"It was the price I wanted to pay, okay?!" Jade snapped. Her fingers grew even paler as she squeezed he steering wheel. But Cat's expressive brown eyes were once again close to tears, and Jade knew she had to fix thing. "Look, I've been through a lot of shit, and I knew, you weren't really so much angry as hurt…."

"No," Cat interrupted, "I was angry. I mean, you, Sam, you guys just left me..." She stopped. "But we've been over that."

"No, we haven't." Jade countered. "Cat, I've spent over a year and a half in therapy, really intensive therapy, and have faced a lot of my own shit. My therapist, he never let me get away with anything, especially not lying to myself. So you wanna know what I really think?"

"Maybe not." Cat's voice was distant.

"I think, in the end, you were pissed that you needed people at all. That when it came time to take care of yourself, you weren't ready." Jade continued. "I mean, look at you. You take care of yourself, your boyfriend, I have no idea if he's serious or now, just that you live with him..."

"I have my own place." Cat said. "It's where I keep my stuffies. He wasn't the type to like them. I did date a guy, named Griffon, who was into Pee Wee Babies. I mean, way into Pee Wee Babies. You think I have a big collection." She laughed. "But for all his bad boy charms, and interest in collectibles, he really wasn't that into science so much as getting his way. Also, he stunk in bed."

Jade shook that off, not wanting to be distracted. "Anyways, I think you've gone out of your way not to be dependent on anyone. Take your boyfriend. As serous as it seemed when we first reentered your life, I get the feeling it's more convenient then anything else. I mean, are you being fare to him?"

"I like my freedom." Cat argued.

"No, you're terrified of being that naive, helpless girl who found herself losing her home because she was too trusting." Jade said. "Listen, if I am your sister, then please, take my advice, and see someone. A therapist." Her hand shot up, stopping the expected reply. "And before you say it, I mean professionally, not dating." Her eyes softened. "I want you to be strong, and happy. Can you do that for me, baby girl?"

"No." Cat said. "Look, Jade, I love you, and I'm really considering it. But my image, it requires I come across as strong. Therapy just doesn't say strong. Maybe, after my show does an episode or three on it, I can get away with seeing someone. But not now. Now I have to continue to be like you, the old you, and demand what I should have coming. I know I can be a bit bossy, but I'm the star, and it feels safer."

"Bossy isn't strong." Jade replied. "It a weakness, showing insecurity."

"So on the set, your not bossy?" Cat asked.

"Oh, I'm a fucking tyrant." Jade admitted, giggling. Cat was struck buy that action, having heard it so rarely she almost didn't know her friend was capable of making that sound. "But I do listen, and have had to be open to all kinds of outside ideas. I get that, you want to be strong, knowledgeable. But the biggest rule in the world is be aware of how little you can know. There's always something you don't know."

"Okay." Cat said. "I get that."

"Good." Jade said, smiling.

"And Jade, please..." The smaller girl was begging with her eyes again.

Jade sighed. "What?"

"This conversation, it never happened." Cat instructed.

"Right, you just bored me to tears telling me how you have a body pillow of Brice Mulder, for those lonely nights." Jade said, trying not to laugh.

"Wait, that means something?" Cat asked. "My man, Tray, he has one of those."

Jade couldn't stop laughing until they reached Sinjins house.

:}

Okay we met Annette, based upon Jessica Simpson. I even chose the name she used in "That Seventies Show." I hope everyone can visualize her now.

So, what'd people think about Annie? How about Davids idea? Didn't work out like he planned, but hay, you gotta love the way he thought things through. Then, we have Cat, who finally challenged Jade's recent behavior. Thoughts, comets, suggestions on large objects I might drop on certain characters, please put them in the comments below.

I made up Brice Mulder. Constellis Holdings, however, is the modern name for Black Water.

Come on, you have to have something to say about this chapter? What about Annette's two small children who need a father? How about Cat threatening Jade because she wants to protect her image. Come on, there has to be something…..

I look forward to reading your reviews.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters.

Warning, deals with difficult subject matters. We should be safe.

:}

Monday came, and two very tired, but happy girls walked into Jade's office just off of the Hollywood-Bronson studio. Jade met up with Michael, her new assistant. "Okay, we've sent out a press release, so this morning, your job is to go through as many of the resumes as you can, sort out likely candidates. Those that are recommended by Robbie Shapiro, get sorted into my pile, the rest, you do your best." Jade told the boy. "Tori, you just cover the phones for the morning, so I can focus on getting my chiz done. And remember, you get lunch at noon, even if I'm busy doing something. Cat's expecting you by one."

"You know," Micheal said, trying not to upset the goth, "They have programs that sort through documents, looking for key words. Might save me having to go through all the resumes."

"Wimp." Jade scoffed. "How many resume's could there be?"

Tori had just logged onto the computer that had been placed at reception. "Hmmm…." She said, letting the program sort the emails they'd gotten. "I said there were possibly hundreds..."

"I mean, sure, maybe there will be a dozens, maybe upwards of a couple of hundred, but you can go through that, right?" Jade said, smiling. A strange, hopeful look was on her face. She held her breath, waiting for Tori to tell her how many resume's had been sent.

"Okaaay…" Tori said. "Looks like theirs just north of eight thousand resume's."

"Just north?' Jade asked, not quite processing the number.

"Eight thousand?" Michael asked, almost choking on that number.

"We'll, Jade is making a name for herself, she needs just about everything, and I'm sure a lot of these people are fishing, hoping for a chance at something." Tori offered.

"I-I have things to..." Jade stammered.

"You, go do your stuff." Tori urged her wife. "Mike, we're gonna start on this mess, and I'm calling in the cavalry, see if we can't find some way through this mountain."

"Sure thing, ma'am." The boy said.

Jade didn't even think to object for another half hour, instead going to her new office, sitting behind the nice desk she'd gotten, and started making phone calls. She'd log onto the server she was using later to begin getting the rest of her pre-production done. 'Need to talk to the casting director, find out who they have for the other rolls.'

Tori, meanwhile, was making calls. "Mike, we have that list we got from Robbie, the one that tells us what kind of people we'll need, as well as documents listing the skills we'll want for each position. Have each document as a thumbnail, so you can compare as we go along." She called out. The ringing on her speaker phone shifted to an answer.

"Mister Van Cleef's office, how can I help you?" A male voice said. He had a pleasant, professional tone to him, and spoke in what sounded like a British accent.

"Tell Sinjin that Tori's on the line, and we need his help." Tori said, praying her friend would be there for her now.

"One moment, I'll see if he's available." The man said. The hold music, the muzak version of 'Make it Shine', somehow made Tori feel relaxed.

'I'd have expected it to be something Trina thought she sounded good singing. But hay, any port in a storm.' Tori thought.

The muzak ended with a familiar voice. "Tori, what can I do for you?" Sinjin sounded happy.

"I need a major favor." Tori said. "You remember that add Jade put out, with the press release directing people to it? The one for just about every conceivable position, shy of executive producer?"

"Oh god, I don't need to hear this." The lanky boy groaned. "Trina will be so upset that you didn't get enough responses." He took a shaky breath.

"We got over eight thousand." Tori corrected him.

"I'm on my way." Sinjin announced, and somehow Tori was sure he sounded… happy. "We'll be there in half an hour."

"You don't even know where we are." Tori protested.

"Trina showed me the office on Saturday." He said. "Don't worry, we cleaned the couch in the break room after we finished. You won't even be able to guess where the wet spot was."

"What did… No, I don't wanna know..." Tori murmured, even as the line went dead. "He probably ran the lines for the phones, internet..."

"Whats that?" Mike asked.

"My sister and future brother in law were here Saturday, and it sounds like they ran the electrical lines for us." Tori said. Then, for the next few minutes, she busied herself trying to begin sorting through the mountain of resumes and cover letters that were electronically taking up so much of their lives. Anything to banish the image that was creeping into her mind.

Sinjin showed up, accompanied by a man, mid thirties, medium height, of Asian Indian decent. "Tori, this is Timmy Patel, my executive assistant. He'll help us get through the mess. He's very good at that business chiz."

"Why did you desecrate the couch in the break room?" Tori greeted the boy.

"I..." Timmy said, trying to decipher the statement.

"You'd have to ask Trina." Sinjin said. "But if I had to guess, I'd say it was because the one in the outer office was too public, and Jade would know if we did it in her office. Besides, I hadn't fixed the Jacuzzi yet. It works now, by the way."

"We're gonna have to burn that couch." Tori shivered.

"We did a good job, no stains." The tall boy insisted.

"I don't need anything reminding me that my sister has sex." Tori told her future brother in law.

"But we're planning on having kids." Sinjin whined.

Mike was stunned by that exchange. "Just ignore it." Timmy advised. "Back when I was in new York, I wound up working for a man simply because he wasn't allowed to hire female assistants any more. The law suits had piled up. However, I learned from that experience that sometimes, it's best to just let things be. It sounds like a family problem anyways."

Mike nodded, and set himself the task of trying to go through all the resumes, looking for anyone Mister Shapiro might have recommended.

Hours passed, and by the time Cat showed up, just before noon, they'd gotten through most of the resume's. This was mostly thanks to the help of Sinjin and Timmy, but it still amazed both Mike and Tori that anyone, no matter how good at business, could have waded through that mountain of personal work history. Tori had just stepped into the break room to make what she claimed was an absolutely essential phone call to her sister, where she would challenge the older girl too explain why they had sex in the break room. Tori would later regret that choice, as she found herself scanning the couches, looking for the one that now had to go.

As Cat entered, she found two men at the front desk. Mike was covering, while Timmy was instructing him on how best to finish up the remaining hundred or so resume's they had to go through. The former redhead bounced up tot he desk to find out where her friends were.

"Hi, I'm looking for Tori, but I'd also like to speak to Jade." Cat said.

"Your name please." Timmy said calmly, not giving anything away.

"Miss Catarina Valentine." Cat informed the man. "But they call me Cat. You, you can call me Miss Valentine, until I get to know you better, in which case well figure something out."

"You're THE Catalina Valentine? The science lady?" Mike asked. "The lady who, in addition to helping teach science to kids everywhere, recommended this location to the boss?"

Timmy sighed. "Not very professional, and certainly not how you handle this." The Indian man said. "She's obviously a friend of Miss West and her wife, so you let them both know she's here, and get back to work."

"Cat?" Sinjin asked. He'd been at one of the assistant desks near the front lobby.

"Sinjin? Is that you?" Cat asked. "I mean, it looks like you, and smells like you. I'm not gonna taste you, so I'm guessing it is you. So, why you here?"

"Cat?" Tori asked, coming out of the break room. "You're early. I have..."

"I just came by to see if you and Jade wanted to go get lunch." Cat said. "You free?"

"We're almost finished with the task you'd given mister Barret." Timmy reported. "We've managed to scan over nine thousand resume's, and I believe we've made a good list of people to get back too. I've also put aside the people Mister Shapiro's email had told us to look at, and I believe that will save you a lot of interviewing. However, you're still looking at maybe two hundred calls setting up interviews, and that means two hundred interviews."

"We'll, why don't you finish up here, then call it a day." Sinjin told his man. "I'm gonna take my old friends out to lunch, see if Trina can join us."

"What about Jade?" Tori asked.

"She's half the reason I'm here." Cat said.

"I'll check on her." Mike told them, walking over to see what the producer was doing. He came running back a second later. "She can't drive a bus, can she?" He asked.

"No, but she can hit a target with a pair of scissors, point first, at ten yards." Cat bragged, a proud smile on her face.

Tori whispered something like "I think she's been taking lessons..." But left it at that.

Jade walked out. "Cat? Good. You and Tori, get some lunch. Mike, why don't you take lunch too. I'll be here, covering the fort."

"No." Cat said. "I'll take Tori to lunch, Sinjin too. But you don't get to stay here. We've reconnected. That involves you hanging out. There's a price for every friendship, and it's paid in time."

"As if I had the time..." Jade groaned, giving her one time friend desperate eyes. "I have so much to get done. By Friday, this Friday, I need to have a lot of permits worked out, scout a bunch of locations, make sure I have access to the sound-stages I need, despite having over a month before I start shooting, and that doesn't even include casting dozens of parts, big and small."

"Then come to lunch." Cat insisted. "After lunch, we'll talk with Learning Live, and see how much they'll charge to help do a lot of that chiz. I know Hollywood Bronson would love to hire out some of their sound studios for filming. They usually make television here, but I'm betting they can do movies. And they even have people, carpenters and craftspeople and chiz, who can build a lot of your sets. So that'll take care of itself. I know you plan on filming as much as possible on location, so I'll reach out to the people I know, help find places that match your needs. Just forward your requirements to my assistant. And yes, there will be a price. But I'm betting we, including the nice management at Learning Live, can come to an agreement, make this happen. That'll take a lot of the stress off of your shoulders. So, now this is a business lunch, and your coming."

"Okay, but I need to do one more thing." Jade sighed, defeated. But she knew when she was outflanked, and decided to go with it. "Mike, when you get back from lunch, order covers for all the couches. Seems that my sister in law got busy on at least one of them, and I'm not burning 'em every time that happens."

"How'd..." Tori asked.

"You weren't exactingly quiet, the way you were yelling at Trina over the phone, even if you'd snuck into the break room to do so. My office isn't that far away." Jade explained.

"Wait, what do you mean every time?" Tori asked.

"He's my tech support." The pale girl said with a shrug and a half hearted lifting of her arm, kinda pointing at Sinjin. "That means he's in and out. Plus, you told me that tech stuff gets your sister hot. Translation, their gonna be fucking on our couches." She looked over at Sinjin. "Now, if you don't want me attempting a vasectomy, using only my favorite tools," she did a snipping motion with her fingers, "you'd best stay out of my office."

"Thats what I told her you'd say." Sinjin said. He almost sounded giddy that he predicted what the one time dark girl would say. "Trina didn't think you'd mind. In fact, she was surprised you weren't there, breaking in all the couches yourselves."

Jade looked at the ceiling. "What is it with Vega's and sex? Seriously, Vega, how is it your family only had two kids?"

"Mom and dad never seemed that into sex." Tori said. "Then again, if I don't wanna know about my sister doing it, what makes you think I could stand to hear about my parents?"

"Back in high school, they seemed to be almost platonic." Sinjin said. "That is, after your friends, including you, Jade, ruined this romantic evening they had planned. I believe that was their anniversary."

Cat looked at the group. "So, lunch?" She wasn't ready to visit that particular memory.

"I'll just finish up here." Timmy said.

"No, you and the other guy, come with." Cat said. She edged up to Mike. "I'm Cat, by the way."

"I thought you were dating a producer." Tori pointed out.

"His boyfriend objected." The petite girl explained, wrapping an arm around Jade's new assistant.

"Cat, he's my assistant, so you can do whatever it is you want to, but only after I'm done with him." Jade said, trailing them out of the office. "Timmy, thanks for the help. You said there was maybe a hundred? I suspect Mike here can deal with them, and make the calls, after lunch. So, all things considered, we're on a time limit, so lets go." She stopped to lock up, smiling at what was becoming a productive day.

Mike looked at the petite but cute girl. Then to Tori, he asked "exactly what is she after?"

"I'm after some fun." Cat told him. She looked at him, her voice, stance, tone, everything screamed no nonsense, that she meant business. "If things get serious, then thats fine. But my god now is science, and science requires a lot of my time. So naturally, along the way, I like to have fun, maybe let off some steam. If you're interested in dating a science show host, you take the good with the bad. Thats the only way it could ever be. So, Jade's assistant, lets agree that this, it's between us, except for when I gossip with my best friend, who it seems is your boss, but we're keeping it professional."

Mike realized that his life just got way too complicated.

After lunch, Jade made the decision to deal with Beck, albeit later in the week, just to make sure that he was on the up and up about their relationships. 'I mean, he as much as said that Tori and I, we were what brought him back to Hollywood. I'm doing interviews Wednesday morning, so that feels like a good time to talk to him. Maybe up in Cat's studio...' She hated delaying, but if she did it that way, then everything would be contained, safe. Jade wanted more then anything, to protect her marriage.

Jade had Mike make all the appointments, including those who Robbie or his team recommended. Some of them she'd interview personally, on Tuesday. It would give her a feeling of completeness that she rarely felt, except when she managed to complete a project. 'Mom and dad are coming to the housewarming. Gods, what have I done...' Once again, she felt her mind slipping into chaos.

Jade also took advantage of her spare time to let David know about the shift, that her parents wouldn't be able to make it Friday. They agreed to have that dinner anyways, just for the family. 'Lets hope it works out well.'

Jade let Mike go around five, as a partial apology for the crazy she'd put him through that morning. Tori wouldn't finish until almost eight, so she felt she had time to get more work done. However, her assistant wasn't a part of that plan, or some of that work. "Trina, Jade here. Thanks for lending me your fiance. He and his assistant, Timmy, they were loads of help. Honestly, between him, and Rob's lists, I got so much done today."

"That much?" Trina asked, and Jade could tell the girl was smiling over the phone.

"I thought you didn't like me." Jade said. "This was supposed to be a courtesy call, give you a chance to curse me out before the misses gets done. You sound almost… happy for me."

"A, I'm happy because your success helps my sister." Trina explained. "B, I'm genuinely happy for you, cause you've changed so much for Tori, helped her out, and built yourself a reputation in the process. C, I'm happy for you because you were never over the top mean to me like the rest of your little group was. You just had your resting level of mean, and I got a lot of that. But your making things better, so I can forgive. And thats great for me, cause I'm reaping the bennies of having you as a sister in law."

"Bennies?" Jade asked skeptically.

"My future hubby felt great about himself today, so thats a plus." Trina explained. "But the biggie is I'm gonna be getting seen at all kinds of premiers, cause you have a butt load of movies to make. Even the one's where you're just the executive producer, you'll be inviting us to the premiers. And if we don't wanna go, we won't have too."

Jade found herself smiling as Trina continued. "Besides, I know Tori isn't gonna be hitting us up for money. Not with you getting richer and richer. That television show your gonna do, it could make you the kind of bank that would let you send a clown to the Carson's home, just to ring the doorbell and then personally flip them off. You could dedicate a diss movie to them, at the Oscars. I'm saying, make the green, and use it to let those dicks know we don't like them, and there's nothing they can do about it."

The pale girl found herself laughing. "Okay, I get it, you don't hate me." She wheezed. "I just didn't think you liked me."

"Oh, I don't. Not yet." Trina sounded serious now. "But that doesn't change the fact that you and my sister, meant to be together. So, Cat mentioned that you were getting help from Learning Live."

"Cat reached out, got me people who will be doing what I'm hiring people to do on a short term basis, but it's gonna cost more then if I just had my people doing it." Jade explained. "I've managed to book two of Hollywood Bronson's sound stages for my movie, and lined another one up for the second film I'm doing. I've agreed to talk to this guy who's done a lot of episodic directing for Learning Live, see if he can handle making a horror movie. We'll need dark themes, set some scary moods, so children's television may not be the best choice for a background."

"Ignoring things like Goosebumps, I'd still think children's television would be a great training grounds for scary." Trina said. "Jade, things are working out for you. Cat's delivering." There was a strangled chuckle. "Bet you never thought you'd hear anyone say that about her."

"I'd believe it." Jade said. "If you were talking about a dress she was making. Otherwise, yea, I totally get that."

"Soo, guessing you'll have more time to spend with my sister, huh?" Trina pushed.

"I'm just less buried now." Jade countered. "But yea, I'll be spending time with her. I've agreed to help Learning Live with some projects down the line. Also, get this, apparently, depending on how you were blackballed, working on a professional project can get your name off the list. Half the people she recommended to me, as possible future hires, where at one point or another on the list. Yet now, I could hire them, no problem. They have other, recent credits through Learning Live, and that negates most of the pressure. I do have to worry about them leaving once they've finished rehabilitating their names, cause they can make a lot more money someplace else."

"Really?" Trina asked, cutting off Jade's fears. "I suspect, if they're good at their jobs, you'll pay just to keep them. No, Jade, what your doing right now is establishing a core of people you can rely upon, whether from Learning Live or someplace else. You said it yourself, you have multiple projects you plan on doing, like a horror film you'll have your hand in, but will be made mostly by someone else. And you trusting it, something you wrote, to a guy who's done kiddie shows. Yea, this is just the beginning."

"So this guy could be with me for years?' Jade asked.

"No, this guy is gonna try to make a name for himself." Trina corrected. "And what your gonna do is find yourself a nice group of writers and start a whole D-list movie branch, to write and make chiz for guys like him to make. That way, you'll usually have a project you can give to the next guy Learning Live wants you to give a break too."

"Don't forget Soft Touch." Jade said. "Man, a children's network and a porn studio. Never thought I'd see them working together."

"Probably happens a lot more then you'd think." Trina commented. "This is Hollywood, after all. But now, I think you have someplace you have to be. Don't worry, I've figured out the price your paying. Good luck, your about to get a different reputation in Hollywood."

"Just what I need, a reputation." Jade joked.

"Go get you girl." Trina directed, then hung up.

"Yea, I'm getting a very different reputation now..." Jade said, packing her things up and heading out the door.

:}

Creeping towards a confrontation that we all know won't go well, unless I switch it up, and Jade's parents are suddenly kind and loving. Who thinks thats gonna happen? Anyways,. We got to see the results of that add Trina helped put out, as well as meet Sinjin's assistant. I borrowed Timmy from a show called "Rules of Engagement." David Spade played his boss, so you can guess the kind of scum Timmy worked for.

So, what kind of slip covers should Jade get for the couches in the office? What about having a clown go to the Carsons and deliver a diss-o-gram? Maybe with a pie to the face? What are your thoughts about Trina and jade's conversation.

And what about Cat? She broke up with her boyfriend because his boyfriend objected, so now she's on the hunt, and adding sexual predator to her skill list? Or maybe she's just forward, cause thats what the people in her life who got what they wanted were? Who knows. Just, this is Cat, and I liked her here.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters. No money is being made for this story.

Waring, covers dark subject matter like rape. This chapter should be okay.

:}

Jade smiled at Beck as he walked into what was her temporary office, at least for this meeting. "So, I saw the crowd outside your office. Can I assume your doing open castings now?"

"Nope, just hiring a bunch of people I'll need to make multiple movies at once." Jade gestured at a chair.

Beck glanced about the office, the professional feel muted just a touch by the bright, happy colors, and the painted faces in frames along the walls. "Interesting office you have here." He commented. "Wait, multiple movies?"

"To pay off debts, I'm creating a sub-company who's job will to be making said projects, be they television shows, or D plus list movies for television slash direct to video, or whatever, and producing them. I'll have to spend even more time checking things out, cause my name will be on everything they do. However, it'll give me a means to pay back the impressive list of people I now owe favors to." Jade explained.

"Hay, at least now we understand where those long lists people spout at awards shows come from." Beck said. "However, um, I hate to shift topics, but I wanted this meeting to ask if you'd considered the changes I asked about..?"

"Eliza's now a lesbian." Jade groaned. "I'll admit, it does remove that option for your character, so they never had a bad dating experience when they were younger."

"Sure they did." Beck said, smiling. "Just make it so they dated young, before she understood what she wanted in life, and then remained friends after. That way, I get to be the one who 'Turned you gay', as well as the guy who helped you be comfortable being gay, supported you when you came out, and thus someone you trust and love. It'll also help add to the idea that I'm not comfortable around women, cause something bad always happens with my dates. But having this shared past will help keep the almost familial relationship between them, and I really like that part."

"Right." Jade said, nodding, making notes. "As for the other change, your not so obviously Indian that I had to change his nationality. You can play white."

He shrugged. "Then what do you need from me?" He asked.

"I'm gonna need to do a lot of compatibility screen tests." Jade said. "And, because fate hates us, I have to ram a part in for Melinda Murray. She's my big name actress, someone to make the investors happy, and she can't play any of the leading ladies, cause she's too old. So I'm creating a roll for her, a mentor type for you…."

"And a love interest for you." Beck shot out. "Think about it. No one would blink if a young woman was dating an older woman, or an older man. Lets say she's got you in a dependent relationship, her money, her friends, everything. That way, your character can grow through the film. And to keep her happy, she can change, just a touch, and be there for you at the end. I know we have half a dozen minor characters who could be merged into one, and that roll is given to her. That should help."

"She's with me?" Jade scoffed. "She'll love that."

"She needs the hit." Beck said. "Otherwise, she wouldn't be near this project. Besides, I'll be there to let her know we're out of the chicken."

"You're handling this way to well." Jade said, eyes narrowing. "Beck, Tori was a little worried that maybe you'd be trying to win your way back into my life. I know, you said your not a homewrecker, but I have to face that fear."

Beck laughed. "Jade, I took some time, thought about you and Tori. I realized I wanted what I had, back at Hollywood Arts." He smiled. "I wanted someone who knew me, could look beyond the fame, money, my looks. I wanted someone who would challenge me, but make me want to be better at the same time. Guessing I was hoping to find an answer in my past. But thinking about it, I'd have never been happy if it were that easy. We both know, I need a challenge. Melinda, she'll make the whole filming experience a lot more fun, given our histories. Just, be careful having Tori around the sets. If she remembers anyone, it'll be her."

"No problem." Jade said. "I'll just let her know that my wife is named Tori, not Crystal Waters."

Beck laughed. "So, why are you up here, when they're interviewing down there?"

"I'm avoiding the first round." The blue eyed girl said. "Second round, thats when they get to meet me. But they have to get past the comity made up of Tori, Trina, Mike, thats my assistant, and Courtney, cause she was available, and we needed people to fill seats."

"So you have them interview for a couple of days, then do call backs?" Beck asked. "You're gonna need a lot more interviewers."

"Tori said she had this." Jade assured him. "So, after lunch, we'll check in with them, find out who made the cut."

"You do that." Beck said. "I'm thinking I'm staying out of this. I'll see you this weekend, for your house warming party."

"Wish I could delay that for a week." Jade moaned.

"That busy?" He asked hesitating by the door.

"No, my parents are invited, and I'm not really ready to face them." Jade explained. "Sides, next week, it's our second wedding anniversary. Honestly, we should be celebrating the day I slept with her. But I guess it's better to use the date on the certificate."

"As much as I wanna hear that story, I'm leaving while I have a chance." Beck said, and dashed out the door.

He stopped in to check on Tori, finding the office space full of people doing interviews. "What...?" He asked, not even sure who he was talking too.

"Beck Oliver, right?" A medium height black man asked. "I'm Micheal Barret, Jade's assistant. What can I do for you?"

"I was just checking in, seeing how the interviews were going." Beck said. "So, who are all these people?"

"The first round interviews." Mike said, smiling. "We knew we weren't gonna be able to handle all of this, two hundred plus interviews, just by ourselves. So we divided the list. Some of them, they cam recommended by Mister Shapiro, cause he knows some people who might be able to do some of the jobs Miss West needs done. So us, the main interview team, we're interviewing them. Sorting through that lists rather quickly, thank you very much. However, there are jobs that his list doesn't cover, or that we really didn't get that great an option for, so we're having this interview here for those we invited who weren't on his list."

"So, this..." Beck gestured around at the mass of humanity talking to each other, seemingly like multiple interviews all happening at once.

Mike clarified. "Anyone on the pre-aproved list, recommended by Mister Shapiro, gets sent directly to the back interviews. Anyone else has to go through the reception squad." He gestured to specific spots throughout the room, and the twenty people wearing tabard's marked 'Interview Squad six.'

"Who..." Beck started.

"Parents from Hollywood Arts." Mike said. "Chosen for their skills by a mister Sikowitz. They go over the resume's, give the initial interview, and if impressed, send the candidate back for a more in depth interview with the main people. Not sure why we call them that, but Miss Van Cleef seemed tickled pink that we refereed to her that way. Then, the final candidates will face Miss West. Everything's handled."

"Parents..." Beck tried to make it make sense.

"They're from the PTA. Turns out that they've hired people before, school associated jobs. Plus, there are enough of them to get this job done fairly quickly." Mister Barret assured Beck. "So, what else do you need?"

"To visit my high school drama teacher." Beck said. "Maybe buy him a cup of coffee, let him know how much I appreciate his help. Let Tori know I came by to say hi. Wait, make that Tori, Courtney, and while your at it, Trina." He flashed his bright smile and then made his way out of the office, heading towards his car. 'It's amazing how the old community, the Hollywood Arts community, came together t help Jade out. I wonder what Sikowitz is gonna charge her for this help? Guessing she'll be doing a couple of speeches for his students, maybe helping them with a project. But this way, he helps her out again. Her and Tori...' He reached his car, where Allen was waiting. "Allen, lets go grab some lunch, then we can head out t my next appointment."

"I could drive, if you wanted." Allen said, feeling odd that his job consisted of swapping places with his boss when they got wherever, assuming no valet parking. He was kinda like a chauffeur, only he doesn't get to drive.

"Nahh, I like driving." Beck said. "I just like having company while I'm out and about. But. As long as you're here, look up Melinda Murray. Turns out I'm gonna be working with her on this project, and I figure it'd be best to be up to date on her work..."

By the time Tori was done that evening, smiling and gushing about her roll, Jade was almost finished with the new outline for her movie. "Hay babe, you ready to head home?" Tori asked.

"Sure, but you drive." Jade said.

"Wait, you want me to drive?" The Latina asked. "Whats wrong? Do you have a fever? Need me to take you to the free clinic? Wait, we have money, I'll take you to the hospital. Get you checked out proper."

"Weren't you gonna tell me how well the days rehearsals went?" Jade asked. Her head was buried in her notes.

"I agreed to do nudity, but only cause it was tasteful." Tori said, looking at Jade.

"I'm listening, just I..." Jade sighed. "I know, today, I'd be driving on muscle memory, and we'd wind up back at the apartment."

"So you'd rather make fun of my driving?" Tori asked. "I'm not that bad a driver. I take my time, make sure I don't make mistakes..."

"Beck came up with a good idea, and I'm making it work." Jade said, cutting her wife off. "But, turning Melinda Murray into an older woman who serves as Beck's mentor slash surrogate mother figure slash my love interest, that required a total rewrite. Sad thing is, it's working, really really well. I just, I never wanted to make my character gay, cause I'm so used to girls having guy best friends. You and Dre, Jason and Marcy, Karina and Derrick…."

"Technically, they sleep together." Tori pointed out.

"They do porn together." Jade countered. "To them, it's just business. Hell, she does bondage stuff with him cause she trusts him not to hurt her. Lord knows she doesn't get off from that chiz. No, they're fiends, close friends who both date other people and only screw cause thats the business their in."

"And now, your gonna be kissing Melinda, right?" Tori asked.

"Yea, well, when we film that scene, your not gonna be anywhere near the set." Jade said. "It's not even close to the focus on the story, something that could, should be left on the cutting room floor. But Beck, he loved the original, where my character goes on a double date with him, just so he can see what a healthy relationship looks like, and I wind up having one of the worst dates of my life. Now, with Melinda involved, we have to figure out how to have chemistry, make the passion feel real, and still have an awkward date where we just grind on one another. Plus, depending on the rating, I may have to let her grope me."

"You'd think Beck would be more forgiving." Tori huffed. Jade rose an eyebrow. Tori, however, didn't elaborate, since by then, they were thick in L.A. traffic, and despite how late it was, she needed to concentrate for a moment. "You realize, I almost turned the wrong way, went to the apartment. Maybe we should have just bought the building, remolded it, made it into our new home."

Jade didn't answer, busy scribbling something down. Moments later, she had her phone open, and was composing an email to herself, elaborating on the idea Tori just had. "Baby, are you turning my suggestion into a movie, or a reality show?"

"Movie." Jade said. "I can just imagine the many, many problems that idea would entail, but to do all that, just so you don't have to learn a new rout home, that would be a major shaggy dog."

"Joy." Tori rolled her eyes. 'Not like this one will ever get finished. Jade has like a million of these ideas that she's sent herself, archived. But it takes a lot more then just an initial idea. Jade needs to feel it, let it fill itself out. However, if she does write this movie, I'm so getting a writing credit.'

"Um, baby, we turned the wrong way." Jade pointed out.

"Jammit." Tori cursed. They turned left at the next street, then left at the one after that. From there, they got home without any more major detours.

"So, babe, you thought Beck was forgiving?" Jade asked.

"He's making Melinda kiss you, maybe grope you." Tori pointed out. "Anything to make her uncomfortable."

"What if she's professional, and just does it?" Jade asked.

"She sends me a thank you card." Tori said, leading the way into the house. "Pull up the map, I wanna go hit the private gym."

"Thats just off the master bedroom." Jade groaned. They'd picked up some second hand exercise equipment for almost nothing, and now had the gym ready for their use.

"Then pull up the map and lead the way to the bedroom." Tori instructed.

"The house isn't that big, Vega." Jade scolded her wife.

"Feels like it." Tori said. "Baby, we were living in a 290 square foot apartment, including the bathroom, and now we have ten thousand square feet."

"Including multiple bathrooms." Jade pointed out. "Okay, our master bedroom is bigger then that apartment. That doesn't mean you make jokes about how big it is."

"Sure it does." Tori said, smiling. "Jade, I had the best time today. I'm learning my lines, and their still figuring out who I'm supposed to be, so I get input on my character. We're kinda basing her on who Cat used to be, believing Fox news and not science. But I'm not the villain, ignorance is. I'm a victim, becoming a villain by pushing my beliefs on the children I watch. Oh yea, thats the other change. I'm taking over the daycare next door, Cat's ready supply of kids she educates. They're introducing me this week, and going over the problems of willful ignorance, encouraging kids to question things, look at the world like scientists. And yea, many kid's won't get the references, but adults should, thus broadening the audience. I'm so happy with my role."

Jade led Tori to the living room. "See, I told you to call up the map. Now we're lost. Or do we have a couch in our bedroom too?"

"We could have one, if you wanted it." Jade offered. "I've got Mike watching the free stuff on Tradelist. If anything interesting shows up, I'll send him to get it, then add it to our unique, mishmash of a decorating scheme."

"WHY?!" Tori asked, clearly frustrated. "Why are you so determined to get free stuff? Why have your paid assistant watch for free stuff, thats just gonna require you to rent a van? And why are we here, when I wanted to go work out?"

"I thought we might eat first." Jade said, giving shy smile.

"Okay, we can eat." Tori agreed. "Wait, I'm cooking. You're not gonna argue about getting free stuff, then order out for food."

"But it's free stuff." Jade whined. "The world is full of free stuff, chiz people will let you just take, that still has life in it. Thats how we got our couch for the flat, and it's a good way to get stuff we don't care about people judging us for, like a couch in our room."

"You just like people giving you stuff." Tori teased.

"Was a time when that felt like it was the only time anyone gave me anything." Jade said.

Tori wrapped her arms around her girl. "You can decorate your den any way you want. But I get approval of anything you wish to put anywhere else. And babe, this is important, when we're done, you are so doing a Tradlist giveaway. I love you, but we know, you owe the universe that much."

"Like anyone would want our old chiz?" Jade joked, but gave in to her wife's demand.

Tori cooked them some dinner, knowing how much Jade appreciated the occasional home cooked meal. 'Besides, I meant it when I said, we're not ordering out food, then getting a second hand chair for her lounge.' But to the singer, it was more then just practicality. It was taking care of her girl. Jade wanted to buy her things, even while struggling with an old need to keep their spending down so they'd have money for a rainy day. But buying food, scrounging a great deal that got them something for less, those were Jade taking care of Tori, while Tori cooking was part of her taking care of Jade.

It was slowly becoming a contest, one Tori was determined to win. "Dinners almost ready. I figured we'd eat light, then hit the home gym in an hour or so. Maybe, if we feel like it, I can whip up a snack later, before bad. Either way, this should make us happy." A steaming plate was placed in front of the goth.

"Just as long as I don't come home one day and find the new paint patters look suspiciously like directions to various places in the house." Jade joked.

"Not gonna make it that easy for potential burglars." Tori scolded. "But as long as we're talking, did you know we have a second kitchen? Kind of a back yard adjacent kitchen where we can prepare food for parties and chiz. I wonder, maybe we should break that place in?"

"Called a summer kitchen, babe." Jade said as if she'd already known. "I looked it up when I first saw the thing. Supposed to be more convenient for the play room and outside. Hay, what do I know? All I can say is, we have two kitchens. Yea us." Jade deadpanned the last part.

"So, we know where we're cooking for our housewarming party, right?" Tori asked. "The main kitchen, cause we're having an old fashion, sit down dinner with our friends, your parents, and mine. We're gonna have fun, even as you fix your relations with your parents."

"Not gonna be that easy." Jade groaned. "It's just not."

"I know, babe," Tori assured her, "I know. So, lets work out."

:}

So, Beck seems to be on the level. I don't know about you, but I believe him when he said he just wanted what he had in the past, someone who could see past the fame, the money, his looks, and see the real him. Then again, back in high school, was anyone seeing past his looks and reputation? I don't think so. However, thats just one thing that happened in this chapter.

So, who liked interview squad six? I'll bet that jade only has to deal with the best of the options when she interviews potential hires. That'll help her build a team. Or how about Tori and directions, Jade being afraid she'd drive to the wrong place, or Tori wanting a map to their bedroom, cause ten thousand is bigger then three hundred.

All in all, we covered a bit here. Hope you liked it.

And oh yea, review. I'll bet your dying to tell me how you loved how excited Courtney seemed to get at being one of the main people, if only in the interviews.

From last chapter, who wants Jade to hire a clown to flip off the Carsons? Cech it out, I say as much in there.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own victorious or any of it's characters. I only borrow them, and make no money from their labors.

Warning, this story deals with uncomfortable and sometimes triggering issues. This chapter, it's kinda random, but I hope, safe.

:}

The next day, while waiting to begin arranging the callbacks, Jade took a break from talking to her many contractors to have a word with the girl who made making her movie just a touch more expensive, but also made it happen. "Cat, I was wondering, you coming to the housewarming party?"

"You gonna tell me when your anniversary is?" Cat asked back.

"Middle of next week, why?" Jade asked. Inwardly, she suspect she knew why.

"I wanna make sure to send you a card." Cat said. "And maybe have the reception you never bothered to have. You know, I was supposed to be your maid of honor, not some random porn star."

"You're not a..." Jade started.

"You know what I meant." Cat snapped. "So, on your anniversary, or around it if business gets too hectic, I'm taking my friend, Tori, and my supposed to be sister, you, out to a late dinner. You'd better be grateful, cause while I've forgiven you for abandoning me, I'm still wazzed about a whole list of missed events. Also, next year, you're having a party, so we can get together as a group and celebrate."

"I could roll it into our housewarming party." Jade suggested.

"You could..." Cat agreed. "But I still get something, because you owe me a maid of honor stint."

"Well, if Tori and I have kids..." Jade tried.

"Oh, you two are so having kids…." Cat growled. "I wanna play with your young'uns, so get reproducing."

"Maybe, once we're a bit more settled..." Jade offered.

"You have that huge house, Tori can take a little time now, as she's getting resettled, so why not?" Cat asked. "Just stop using protection."

"Um, we're both girls." Jade said, not sure if her friend remembered.

"So…?" Cat asked. Then she deflated just a bit. "I know, give you a little longer. But you owe me this. And Trina, who may also wanna be a god mommy. I promise, I'll reach out, find a way for you to get Tori preggers, or her you, if it works out better that way. Just, I want this. You and Tori having beautiful babies who will never know the pains their mommies went through. Maybe I'll let Mike get me preggers too, have our children playing together."

"Maybe you should build a relationship, have a family, before adding to it." Jade suggested.

"Prude." Cat teased. "I'll have a baby if I want one. And if I don't want a hubby, then I'll do it alone. I thought you, of all people, would support me in this."

"I'll support whatever decision you make..." Jade started, looking for a way to argue how hard this decision would be.

Cat broke out laughing. "The look on your face..." She had to catch herself, prevent herself from falling down. "That horrified look. Man, it's like you really don't know me any more." A hand went up, asking for a moment. "No, thats good, it's good. Of course you don't know me any more. I'm a fucking scientist now. I know chiz. If I decide to have a child, it's not some impulse where I just wanna be a mommy. And I won't make the mistake of thinking it'll be easy. But I can afford it, if I decide to go that way. I can afford to have a child, without a man in my life, and I can raise him or her right. I'd love my baby, give them a good life, where they can be whomever they are, and while shallow minded people will judge them, I'd always be there to give them my full love and support. And you, Jade, of course you'd never have thought of me that way. You're still adjusting to me being this smart, competent, confident person. Just like I'm adjusting to how hurt you've always been." She flashed a quick smile. "But it's good, cause at this point, none of you, except maybe the Vega girls, should even pretend to know me." Her eyes were serious now.

"Thanks for hooking me up with so many people who are helping get my movie made." Jade said. "I'm a touch over budget, but making up pre-production time like it's going out of style."

"You'll make some of that budget back." Cat said. "My people are in talks with the studio about having product placement in your movie. Some of it'll be paying back favors. But you'll get money for the project too. And, I'm betting, you'll make enough on this project to justify the bigger budget the studio needed you to spend."

"I hope so..." Jade said, but let her mind drift.

"You're gonna be better parents then what you had." Cat assured her friend. "Trust me."

"My mom and dad are supposed to be at the house warming party." Jade reminded her friend. "I haven't spoken to either of them in eight years. What do I say to them?"

"How about this?" Cat said, reaching out to take the taller girls hand. Her voice shifted into an approximation of Jade's own voice. "Mom, dad, Surprise! I'm alive. Mom, I have so many issues with what you did to me, the way you let your boyfriends molest me, and then had the lack of empathy to assume it was my fault. You damaged me, and then let that bastard you once married tell you that you both had to let me go, let me fend for myself. And dad, yes, I succeeded, but it had more to do with making it right for a girl I hurt, and less about proving you wrong, or right, or caring about you in any way. You both were dead to me, because that was the way you'd wanted it. But I'm married now, and she's my reason for all of this. So if you wanna be in my life, you gotta put in the work, let me know you understand your parts in the damage that made me."

Jade stared at Cat, unable to form words. "How did you know…?" She finally asked.

"We spent a lot of time together, up through high school." Cat said. "Later, after I'd spoken with your dad, knew the broad strokes, I was able to figure out the rest. And of course, your dad was oh so helpful in telling me what your mom did. You see, recently, I've been going over every memory, filling in blanks about when what might gave been happening." Cat flashed her best smile. "So, why weren't you taking note? My speech, I think I pretty much nailed it there."

"Because when I do see them, I'll have all my issues right there with me." Jade replied. "But thanks for thinking that all up for me."

"I could have Mike come in here, take notes, type them up." Cat offered.

"No, I think this stays between you and me." Jade pushed.

"Oh, okay." Cat shrugged. "But if you chicken out, I'm letting your parents have a piece of my mind." Her brown eyes flashed with a dark fire. "After all, there are other debts hanging between us, debts from high school that I've yet to pay you back. Like how you saved me from living in Hollywood Arts…." Her smile was dangerous, sporting for a fight. Jade just gave her space, enjoying the time with her friend.

After her visit with Cat, Jade decided she needed some wife time, so she did something she rarely did. She went home and cooked. Mike was there, to help her keep working, even as she prepared ingredients.

"Okay, whats the next thing I do for this casserole, and can you cue up the footage that the casting director sent our way, specifically the auditions for Beck's girlfriend." Jade asked.

"I still think you should go with that former pop princess." Mike said. "She's in the right age group, and she's got a decent reputation as a professional."

"But she hasn't had a hit in years." Jade replied. "Plus, she's had how many scandals around her drug use?"

"She's a name, and she's willing to do this movie." Mike argued.

"You had a crush on her, didn't you?" Jade accused.

"Yea, had." Mike deflected.

"What about you and Cat?" Jade wondered.

"I'm not so sure about that." The assistant said. "She's kinda bossy, and really isn't willing to commit. She's starting discussions about maybe having children, and we've only been on one date. Hell, she kidnapped me for that one date, too."

"Um, casserole?" Jade inquired. 'Cat, this is not how you get a man...'

Mike showed her the next step, and then cued up the audition he wanted her to see. "She really hasn't improved much since she played the Zombie Princess on Zombie High, has she?" Jade asked.

"She's not that bad." Mike countered. "You just don't like her because of the scandals."

"No, I can handle the scandals." jade said. "I just, ugh, it's the rolls she's played in the past. She's never strays to far from her pop princess roots, even as she found a way to be seen as a total scank. But your probably right, for Beck's love interest, she's probably the best choice. Call her agent and see if we can arrange a deal. I'll give her a chance. Now, who's the next on the list?"

"Three fifty." Mike said.

"Three fifty?" Jade asked.

"Set the over for three hundred and fifty degrees." Mike clarified. "We're backing the casserole."

"Why do casseroles have to be backed?" Jade wondered.

"I don't know, kinda the definition of a casserole, I guess." Mike speculated. "Now then, we have several more rolls to fill, and we're not getting any closer."

"Have we heard back from our location scouts?" She asked.

"We have, and I think, maybe, we should really see if any of the locations associated with Hollywood-Bronson would do." Mike replied. "Those places have existing contracts, and would be easy to secure for our filming."

"My filming, but I see your point." Jade said, huffing, glaring at the casserole. "How does she do it?"

"What, cook?" The assistant asked.

"No, I can cook." Jade said. "She bakes love. I mean, how the holy hell does she take such simple ingredients, and make it taste like caring?"

"I think, maybe, you're reading too much into this." Mike said, putting his computer aside. "I think, the reason her cooking tastes like love is because you love her, and you think, maybe, cooking is one of the ways she says she loves you."

"There's an actual taste difference." Jade insisted. "I've had better. Honestly, I've had better then her cooking, multiple times, but when I have whatever she cooks, it tastes like she loves me, like this is something made with love, like a mother should be making for their children, and I can't explain why."

"No idea." Mime said. "My mother, she loved me, loved us, and her cooking only tasted like that for a short while, when we were really young. After a while, it just tasted like it tasted." He sighed. "But then again, maybe I get it." His eyes stared off into space for just a second, as he relived a memory. No, I totally get it. Back at PCA, there was this restaurant, called Sushi Rox, that served the best sushi, bar none. Later, after I had a chance to taste sushi from other places, I realized it really was the best sushi. As in, I've rarely had as good, and never had better. And I think, maybe, it was because the owner, Kazu, he loved making it for us, loved that we were eating what he made. It just tasted better, because it was made with such caring, so much love. So yea, I totally get that."

"So, how do we make something with so much love?" Jade asked.

"Maybe it's something we work on, for like years and years and years." Mike guessed. "Not just the cooking, cause as you said, her cooking is kinda basic, in a really good way I'm sure. Burt she's been cooking, maybe showing you she loves you that way, for years now, and it shows. I'll bet, if she took the time, really wanted to, she could be a chef."

Jade smiled, enjoying that moment. "Yea, I'll bet she could..."

"But you, I've seen something you made with love, even as it scared the living chiz outta me." Mike continued. "So now, don't assume the talent is beyond your grasp, just maybe, it's focused in another direction. And I think we're ready to put that casserole into the over. Let it bake for a bit."

"Not ready yet." Jade said, even as she hoisted the dish up and carried it t the preheated oven. "Really not ready for this..."

"Why not?" her assistant asked.

"Cause that would mean we're down to just the work on the film." Jade said. "All thats left is to look at the remaining auditions, see if anyone might fit in any open roles, then letting them know. After that, it's paperwork, financials and projections and stuff no sane person ever wants to do. Boring stuff."

"Boring stuff that gets movies made." Mister Barret assured her. "And earns you that producer credit at the end of the movie, as well as the fat producer checks."

"Joy, the things I do for my wife." She said humorlessly. "Okay, the casserole is in the over. We have time, so lets go over the rest of those auditions. Maybe I can find something to distract myself from my impending paperwork."

"You could finish that rewrite you were doing." Mike suggested. Then, at the glare she was giving him, he added "Or I could see how long it takes me to run all the way to my apartment. Maybe, if I'm nice, I get a five minute head start?"

"No, stay." Jade said, holding her frustration in check. "I need you to do this paper work while I get going on the script. But first, those damn auditions. And why am I proving waiter number three?"

Friday came, and while they had dinner, it wasn't as well attended as they'd hoped. "Tori, Jade, glad to see you both." David greeted his daughter. "Sinjin was just telling us about the circus you had on Monday. Nine thousand applicants, huh? Any chance you could sort back through that list, maybe send the best options to the police department? We could always use a few hundred good men and women."

"Where's mom?" Tori asked, shifting nervously. While her and her mother had been talking, there was still a lot of bad feelings that both were afraid would come up in a face to face.

"Gary said he'd bring her just as soon as her plane gets in and she gets off." David said.

Annie held in her smirk. "What?" Jade asked.

"David told me that was part of the reason they broke up." The pastor said, chuckling. "What? Too soon? It's been over six years. Yea, I know, a dirty joke from a pastor is kinda unexpected, but..." Jade's fingers stopped the babbling before it got any worse.

"We really didn't make the connection until you pointed it out." The director said. "And no, it's not too soon, it's just not gonna be funny to them."

"So why's mom taking such a late flight?" Tori asked.

"There was a problem on her original flight, and then she got reaccommodated, put on a later flight, and get this, flying standby, cause lord knows thats the fastest way to get anywhere." David explained sarcastically. "Anyways, she's on a flight now, that should be arriving any time now, based on how long it was delayed for, I don't know, whatever reason the gave to delay the flight."

"So, Trina, have you and Annette met?" Jade asked the older girl.

"How is it dad found himself a centerfold, in church?" Trina asked.

"Prayer works?" Sinjin asked, smiling. Then, at the scowl his bride-to-be was giving him, he shrank back. "Too soon?"

"You had better not be thinking impure thoughts about my dad's girlfriend." Trina warned.

"Why would I, when you were the answer to my prayers." Sinjin tried.

"Nice save." Annette said.

"Not good enough." Trina growled. "But I can forgive my man, cause he's just a guy. We girls know how boys can be, right?"

"Careful, man, they're ganging up on us." David whispered to Sinjin. Annie tried not to laugh.

"Don't worry, I've got this." The lanky boy replied. "Um, Jade, you're technically the husband, right?"

Jade's stare could have bore through the wall behind the boy. "What?" She breathed, danger and doom burning through the seconds her voice dominated the air.

"I was, I mean, maybe..." He stammered.

"Jade, baby, let the poor boy have his mistakes." Tori cooed. "You're my girl, and sometimes, that includes being my man." Her hand was resting on the pale girls, calming her down.

"Wasn't that angry." Jade said, her rage vanishing in an instant. "Just, I've got the biggest, er.." Her eyes locked on Annie's assets, "second biggest tits here, and he still lumps me with the fellas?"

"Cause your probably the second fiercest guy here." Trina said. At the look Jade gave her, she added "Hay, I'm number three, so..." She gave her boyfriend a smile. Sinjin to his credit, gulped.

Tori smiled at her dad. "I'm kinda hoping they gave you number one." She commented. Then, to her sister, "That was because dad's a soldier, a police officer who can keep going and going, right?"

"So, whats good here?" David asked, pulling open the menu. He didn't need his manhood compared to the girls.

"The Chicken California is to die for." Tori said.

"I thought you were trying new things?" Jade asked her wife.

"No, thats me." Trina said. "I'm having the Steak salad. Lets see if it lives up to it's rep."

"I think I'll try something heavier." David said.

"No, the Steak Salad looks good." Annie said, smiling, leaning just a touch forward. "We don't wanna get all filled up. Not with the head pastor watching my kids."

"Not to break up this, um..." Tori said, looking very uncomfortable, "But who trusts pastors with kids these days?"

"Thats Catholics, sis." Trina defended.

"That was only a few, and they're doing a better job of keeping the kids safe now." Jade corrected. "I swear, just because a few people do something wrong, abuse their position, and suddenly everyone is doing it. Think. Just think, how many people would be going to that church if every pastor or priest was a child molester. Some of them can pass a background check. And I know David put him through one, cause it seems thats what he does. Put people through background checks."

"I had to be sure you knew everything about your parents." David defended himself. "Thought I should have guessed you were the reason your mother was on, um, that list."

"What list?" Annette asked.

"One your pastor isn't on." Jade said. "One your pastor will never be on, cause he's a good man who has been an advocate for abused children for years."

"You did a background check on him?" Tori asked.

"No, on Annie here." Jade said. Then she looked pensive. "Sorry, I just wanted to be sure. I mean, people can claim to be anything. Anyone can pretend to be, well..."

"I'm ordained, not that easy to do." Annette said. "Not in my church. But hay, I totally get that, the background check, and just so you know, the church did one too before they hired me." She then looked at the Vega girls. "Part of the reason is because the church, it works with a children's shelter, helps abused children. We also have a program for emergency placement for kids who have to be removed from their homes for whatever reason. So yea, we can pass most background checks. Just, I've been banned from Freddy Fazbears Pizza palace." She gave a half smile. "Some guy managed to buy the right to use that name, and then was surprised when some people got freaked out by the place. People like, I don't know, my son. So, banned, but it was totally not my fault. Place was creepy."

Jade smiled at her wife. "We so have to go." She said.

Tori smiled her sweetest smile at the women who had captured her fathers heart. "Annie, I love that my father loves you, and really really wanna make you feel welcomed in this family. However, some day, I'll get you for my impending pizza horror show."

"Relax, no way it's as bad as the game." Jade tried to assure her wife.

Annie smiled, then turned back to Dave. "Anyways, eat light, and I'll give you something better to eat later, okay?"

"Steak salad it is." The police officer decided. Sinjin exchanged a knowing look with Jade, as the Vega sisters pretended their father didn't have sex.

"Um, there's something else we've been wanting to discuss, and it involves the Wests." Trina opened, glad to be away from uncomfortable topics. "I mean these Wests, the one's we like. More specifically, I mean their anniversary."

:}

So, fun moments, right? Loved Cat in this. She says she's not the kind to make snap decisions, but how much do you wanna bet she doesn't give up on the kids part. And, to make things worse, she's willing to do that, fight that fight, because it'll involve less of a scandal then her seeing a therapist. No idea why, but people just see getting help as weakness.

I had fun writing the cooking scene, even thought it should probably be left on the cutting room floor. It shows a bit more of Jade's human side. And how scary she can be, even without threats. Plus, it made me look up the definition of casserole.

The Vega family dinner looks to be fun. Wonder what Jade and Tori's anniversary has to do with anything? Or maybe, we should remember, Trina and Cat are in contact, friends even.

So, hope you enjoyed this calm before the storm. Next, we have a party. Maybe, we'll even get to the confrontation. I just hope Tori shows some restraint, lets Jade and David handle this.

So review, and tip your waiters, clowns, and valet parking people, even at free valet parking, like at the hospital. Yep, some hospitals have valet parking. But thats besides the point, review.

See you next time.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Warning, deals with heavy subjects, but mostly in the past. Just be wary.

:}

That Saturday evening, people started showing up for the party. As Tori and Jade's wedding anniversary was just a few days after the party, Tori's friends and family decided to add that to the celebration, making it a combination house warming and anniversary party. Jade had objected, not yet ready to publicly celebrate her very private marriage, until Tori agreed it was a wonderful idea.

"It's our friend acknowledging us as a couple." Tori had argued. "It's a chizzing big deal, and your gonna be a gracious host, enjoying their company, and everything else that comes with. And Jade," Tori's eyes held a dark fire, "It's time you accepted that they will forgive you. Even Cat's forgiven you. So let them in, damn it. It's time. Let them love their friend again. Let them love you, be your friend."

Jade could have argued against it, claim that they had good reasons not to trust her, not to be her friend. However, she didn't want to deny Tori this moment, this chance to be celebrated by their friends, so agreed. That caused a snowballing effect, as someone had already posted a fake wedding registry for them, and then some of the people in their lives decided to buy them gifts for the anniversary. So as the party approached, Jade found herself once again wondering at the wisdom of this function.

"Jade, relax." Beck pushed. His gift to them was the food for the party. Once again, he'd bought a load of food, enough that Jade was convinced he was getting it whole sale. But this time, they'd need all of it. And in addition to the food, Beck, he was gonna do the cooking, right there, as well as handle a few other details.

Also, Beck hadn't come alone. Allen was there, had helped Beck do setup, and volunteered to act as bartender. "Allen's good with drinks, and he was never an addict, just someone who needed a chance. He'll do great. Just, I put out a tip bowl for him, so people can show their appreciation. I mean, free drinks, but still tip the bartender, right?"

Jade rolled her eyes. Still, it felt good, knowing someone had taken it upon themselves to handle such a big part of the party. They were set up by the pool, out back, with a decent amount of space to wander in. Guests could circle around the property, but were encouraged to enter through the home, so their dry cloths could be checked, so they wouldn't have to keep track of their stuff while at the party.

They'd agreed to keeping the party dress casual, so Jade was wearing jean shorts and a green top, over a blue bikini. Tori had a white bikini under her white boy shorts and pink top. Both girls looked good, in a casual, easy going way. Beck was wearing an open shirt over his swimming trunks, and an apron over that. They were left wondering what everyone else would be wearing, while Jade wished they'd chosen something more formal. She wanted to hide behind etiquette, just because it gave her the illusion of safety.

"I trust you." Jade said to Beck. "Hell, I trust him. I just… My parents are gonna be here, and we're gonna be in chizzing swimwear. What the holy hell am I doing? I'm supposed to be spending this day with my wife, and instead, I'm here, cause we're expecting an army, and I need to check on supplies."

"We have a lot of everything, and I can order more if we need it." Beck assured her. "Look, go comfort your wife. She looks nervous."

Jade headed straight for Tori, smiling as the nervous Latina smiled at her. "Do you think they'll like me?" The tanned girl asked as Jade approached.

"Who?" Jade asked, hoping she was wrong.

"Your parents." Tori filled in.

"Why should you care if my parents like you?" Jade asked. "They don't even like me. I… I'm not sure why I even invited them..."

"Cat's price for her forgiveness." Tori reminded her. "And their your parents. I want them to like me. These are the people who made you who you are."

"And some day, I hope to be able to forgive them for that." Jade cut in.

"No, today is the day we work this shit out." Tori demanded. "Babe, we've done this before. I was so worried about what everyone would think about you, and we got together, talked things out, and vala, now we're all fiends again."

"So we just tell my folks that I was raped, and maybe they'll feel sorry for me?" Jade asked. "You know, that may just work. I'll just have to be ready to open with that."

"Or, we can let them know you've been through some chiz, and now want to have them back in your life." Tori suggest. "Just, we have rules. They don't get to judge you, not any more. If thats what they want to do, then we don't need them. This is our reaching out, trying to let them back in. But we're not the people they knew back then. We're now adults, who've been through hell, and have the ashes to prove it. But we're paying the bills, and that buys us the right to make our own decisions. So let them come. They'll find us calm, collected, and ready for their approval."

"Us?" Jade asked. "Tori, babe, your parents love you. Your mother, she's here, got in late last night, staying with your dad and his new girl. Still don't know how that works, just they seem able to make it work. But they're here, loving you and supporting you and all in on making your life better. Just like you friends are here. Me, I'm the one who's..." Tori had kissed her, not willing to let her say she was alone.

"Jade, sweety?" Tori asked, fluttering her eyes. "You do realize a lot of your friends were invited tonight as well. Management, and some of the talent, from Soft Touch, some of the people you work with, contacts, and even friends. So, you're not alone. Hell, my family is on your side. My dad, he's showing up soon, just to keep an eye out for your parents. So relax, cause their coming, and there is nothing left you can do about it."

Jade sighed. "Yea, I'm not alone." She agreed. Her eyes, however, had shifted to looking at something over Tori's shoulder. "So, before we go any further, who's that?" Jade pointed at a tall, distinguished man who was being led to the pool area by their temporary help, people they hired to answer the door and make sure no one crashed this party.

"Gary?" Tori asked. "GARY! OVER HERE!" She screamed. "Jade, thats Gary, my dad's ex partner. We made peace with him a while ago, so I invited him. I hope you don't mind."

The tall man walked up to the couple. "So this is Jade, huh?" He asked. "Nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you."

"All good, I hope." Jade joked.

"Gary, um, yea..." Tori glanced at Jade. "I kinda had him take the gun, years ago."

"The guns gone?" Jade asked. "But we just put the lock box in a secure place." Her eyes glanced at her wife. "Why even have the lock box if we don't even have the gun any more? Wait, years ago? You never told me? Tori…?"

"I was worried." The Latina admitted. "I was scared that you were inches from using that gun, on me, or yourself. Mostly yourself. I… I didn't wanna lose you. It was from before I told you I loved you."

"And you never told me?" Jade asked again, hurt but strangely calmer.

"Yea, by the time we were able to admit we were in love, we both had other things on our mind." Tori explained. She gave her wife a soft, loving look. "I love you..."

Jade groaned. "You should have told me." She sighed. "It's better then me finding out from your dad, a couple of weeks ago, when we were on that ride along. Or did you know Gary here had given him back the gun, as soon as he was off the desk."

"He told you, huh?" Tori asked.

"Yea, he did." Jade said. "I intended to mention it, but things kinda came up. Lots and lots of stuff. Like how I was almost killed, and I never told you. So, yea, guessing maybe we're even?" The pale girl gave a hopeful smile.

"No." Tori said. "You've been awfully forgiving of my chiz lately. I get it, this is a trying time, and your still worried that I'll leave you. But this time, I didn't do anything wrong. Gary here felt that it'd be better if we pretended the gun was still at our place, cause the odds of us actually using it to stop a break in were almost nonexistent. That way, I'd have a buffer if the hurt got to be too much, and you tried something. So I didn't do anything wrong."

Tori pulled her girl over a bit, to better look her in the face. "That, however, doesn't mean you can't, or shouldn't get wazzed. Hell, get full on pissed. I lied to you, pretended we had a gun, gave a false sense of security, just because I was too scared to admit I cared about you. If nothing else, I robed you of some great makeup sex."

"Well, I do enjoy the make up sex..." Jade said, smiling. "But considering whats about to happen, I think today, I'll just be forgiving. Who knows, maybe it'll help me forgive my parents?"

"Or maybe it's time you let them know just how much it hurt when they tossed you out like that." Tori suggested.

"That depends, will Trina be here?" Jade asked. "I might not get the chance, if she feels she needs to open up about some of my secrets."

"How the holy hell did you ever forgive her for telling them?" The Latina asked. "I mean, I'm still a bit wazzed, and she made it easier for our friends to forgive you."

"I accepted that she did it to protect you." Jade said. "Protect us. Plus, she and your dad put in the extra work to help start the healing."

Tori kissed her wife, softly but with passion. "You ready for this?"

"I think so." Jade said, but shifted nervously. "Cat's full of fire and vengeance. She may be a problem. Have someone keep an eye on her. Also, Mike isn't ready for this Cat."

"You told me." Tori smiled. "The 'I'll get pregnant if I wanna' Cat is a bit new. Hopefully she respects Mike enough not to do something he's not ready for."

"Thats the 'I'll get pregnant if I wanna, with or without a man' Cat, so yea, Mike is totally not ready. I mean, best case scenario, they're both ready, or she does it with someone else. That reminds me, maybe we should warn Beck." Jade glanced around.

"No." Tori said. "He wants a fucking challenge, then maybe Cat, this Cat, is the girl for him. If Mike isn't ready for someone like her, then maybe we get her and Beck to see each other, just a bit, and let the cards fall where they may. If they have a child, at least we know Cat will be there for it, and Beck isn't gonna walk away. He'll man up, be there for her."

Jade started laughing. "Whats so funny, West?" Tori growled.

"I just had an image of us waking up, and finding Cat standing over our bed with her phone, a thermometer, and a turkey baster." Jade admitted.

"Okay, I get the thermometer and the baster, but he phone?" Tori asked.

"Tracking our cycles." Jade said, and her wife gave a knowing smile.

"Okay, lets talk with Cat, make sure she's ready to wait." Tori decided. "And we won't interfere with her relationships until we're ready for the consequences. Mikes a good guy, good for now. Plus, I work for her, and you kinda owe her some favors, so maybe we don't rock the boat?"

"She's gonna be the reason we have kids, isn't she?" Jade asked.

"Defiantly." Tori agreed. "So, when are we expecting the rest of our guests?"

"Any time now." Jade said. "Any time now."

They quickly found themselves flooded with people they knew, including Jade's friends from work, her manager, and even the man Jade called Devin, who let her film her first movie in his house, for free. Tori had several friends show up, a couple of the girls from the child care facility where she'd worked as receptionist, as well as the old gang. It was feeling like a party.

Jade periodically would wander to the table they'd set up for gifts. While it was understood that gifts weren't mandatory, there were people who felt they should have given something, be it time, something from the registry, or just a token, as a wedding present. The table was starting to dispensary under the packages. "If I'm feeling extra cruel, I'll have Mike write the thank you cards."

"Already on it." The assistant said. When jade glared at him for sneaking up on her, unwilling to admit she'd been lost in thought, he added "I just assumed I was invited."

"You're totally invited." Jade said. "Just, wear a bell or something, okay?"

"Sure thing." he replied. "I'll he creaking in here from time to time, making sure we have a list of who gave gifts. You can fill me in on what you got later. However, I'm also gonna have me some of that barque."

"Yoiu do that, I'm gonna mingle." Jade said, wandering back towards the pool area. That was when she ran into David and Annette, who were watching an older woman approaching Tori. "Holly?" Jade breathed.

"Yea, it's Holly." David said, barely looking away. "They may have mended fences, but that doesn't change the fact that this is the first time they've been in the same place since the divorce. I'm kinda hoping for a hug."

"I'm kinda hoping for absolution." Annette said, looking down.

"What happened?" Jade asked.

"Well, I don't know if I should tell you..." Annie said.

"It's none of her business." David added.

"My church, we have good morals. But that doesn't mean we aren't open to the occasional bit of fun. And my ex, Mike, he had a thing for older women. Not sure why..." Annie looked nervous. "You have to remember, this happened a long time ago..."

"David's right, you really don't have to tell me." Jade assured the woman.

"It was just before my Mike went over seas." Annette continued. "It was supposed to be his big break, cause the money, it was good, and he hoped to get promoted, be in charge. He was in charge of the convoy that got slammed. But this was before that, and we kinda met Holly."

"Met?" Jade asked. "Wait, don't tell me. I'm sure I don't wanna know."

"She was in town, and not this one, but in town, lonely, and I really wanted to give my man something special." Annette said, now lost in her memory. "It was my first threesome. Hell, it was my first, and only time with a woman. And honestly, Holly wasn't that bad. She's a surprisingly giving lover who wanted to experiment. We actually laughed afterwords."

"So you promised to stay friends, and somehow lost contact after you lost your husband?" Jade filled in. "No, it can't be that simple."

"I used a fake name, called myself Vicky." Annie said. "Thing is, she begged me for any other name I could call myself. We wound up using V. It was far enough."

"Anonymous sex." Jade said, nodding. She knew a lot more about that then she liked to admit, just from the people she'd worked with. Most of them had done something like that in their lives.

"We called her Becky." Annette said. "She was good to us. But your right, it was anonymous sex. She was living far away, and we were moving to California, for my job, cause Mike, he didn't need to be anywhere specific, just needed someplace to come home too."

"And now, the woman you had a threesome with is your boyfriends ex." Jade said. "That got to be awkward."

"We just need to drop it." David suggested. "Holly seems willing to do that, so why not we all forget that ever happened."

"Because it's part of my past." Annie said. "Dave, I love you, gonna have another baby with you. Maybe. But I hardly expect Holly to stay out of our lives. So we need to make this peace. Just, we can have that talk later, after the party. When I ask her to move back here, live nearby." Jade's eyebrow rose. "She's running from herself, and it's time she stop. As a woman of god, I'm gonna reach out, offer the services of my church. With luck, we'll be able to help her find something stable, be a part of her grandchildren's lives. Honestly, it's the christian thing to do. So, I'll talk to her." The woman seemed resolved. "After the party."

"Gods, the price for dating a minister." David groaned.

"A hot, doable minister." Jade pointed out. 'Grandchildren? Gods, no pressure, right?' She thought. She noted a half smile on Davids face as he watched Tori and her mother make conversation. They seemed to be doing okay.

"Wait, Dave, do you see that?" Annette asked, scanning the party.

"What? Where?" He asked, looking around. But his girlfriends hand was already pointing something out.

"Over there, somethings bothering Tori, and it's not her mom. They were having such a good talk, maybe finding more common ground, healing, and now this..." Her eyes scanned, following Tori's eyes. "Over there. That man, maybe?"

Jade found herself holding her breath as she watched her father, complete with his current wife Stacy, walking out of the house towards the barbecue. 'He knows Beck, so yea, thats where he's likely to start...' She thought, even as her feet froze.

"You know him?" Annie asked.

"Is that your father, or should Gary and I put on our professional hats and deal with this guy?" David asked.

"Thats my father." Jade whispered, surprised she made that much noise. "Now, where's my mom?"

"I doubt they'll be showing up together." Annie said.

"Annie, stay close to Holly, and have Gary on standby. I'm gonna go talk to Mister West." He looked at his daughter in law. "Does he have a first name?"

"Yea, he's Stanley. Stan." Jade stammered out. "My dad's Name is Stan."

"Come, it's time to face part of your past." David ordered. He grabbed Jade's wrist and practically dragged her over to where her father was standing, trying to make conversation with Beck.

:}

Another chapter closer to the confrontation, and someone's getting nervous. But she's in her home turf, even if she's still getting used to it. Jade should have the advantage, right?

Thoughts about anything that happened up until that point? Concern for Mike and Cat, cause Cats after fun, not a relationship. How about combining the parties, cause they have an anniversary there too. Thoughts about Holly and Annie? Even ministers have pasts, right? And do you think Tori is holding onto a realistic view of whats gonna happen with Jade's parents? More importantly, it's a good sign she is, cause thats the old Tori, back in form for the party. But she's always gonna have a bit of an edge, because of her own past.

Review, and let me know your thoughts.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: Victorious and it's characters belong to other people, and not me. I make no proffit from these stories other then reviews.

Warning, mentions rape and violence. Possibly triggering.

:}

"Come, it's time to face part of your past." David ordered. He grabbed Jade's wrist and practically dragged her over to where her father was standing, trying to make conversation with Beck.

"...so I was left wondering, what kind of person did Jade marry. I mean, he can't be much of a man, if he let Jade keep her last name." Mister West was saying. Beck was just nodding along, trying not to give too much away.

"She married my daughter." David said as way of introduction. "David Vega, Lieutenant, LAPD."

"Stanley West, insurance management." Stan said, showing no shame at his earlier statement. "Thats like being an insurance salesman, but I just managed the policies for a cut of the take. Tom, my partner, he's great at making the sales, but not so good at the follow through. So yea, he gets more in commissions, but I make the whole thing work."

"Nice to meet you." David said, noting how the man didn't even bother to introduce his wife, who David noted had a similar build to Annie. 'I assume that his wife, by the way she's standing near him.' He thought, but his eyes confirmed it when he saw the matching rings. "Now, I'm sure you're aware that Jade and my daughter had themselves a rough couple of years. I'm here to support them, you know, be there when Jade is ready to talk about it. Specifically, talk to you and her mother about what happened."

Jade shifted nervously, smiling at her current step mother and trying not to be to noticed. 'Funny, neither seem to know I'm here. I wonder, could I slip away in the confusion?' But her feet refused to move.

"No need." Mister West said. "Whatever it was, thats the past. She's succeeded now, and thats all that matters. I'm just glad she overcame her past. I do, however, have some concerns. She did a lot of stupid things when she was younger, and I'm worried that the victims of those actions might still want to go after her. How vulnerable is she?" He turned to put his back to Jade, as if she might tell someone, while drawing David closer in a conspiratorial kind of way.

"That depends on which thing your talking about." David said, giving the man a length of rope. He tried to keep an eye on Jade, but to do so made him stand at Stan's side, with one shoulder towards his daughter in law.

"Not sure I should be telling a police officer about this..." Stan hesitated.

"I know a great deal about Jade's past." David assured the man. "She's family now, and I make it a point to know just about everything I can learn. So, if there's a specific instance, maybe I can shed some light on it. Or, you could see if her lawyer is here, maybe ask him."

"Okay," Mister West gave one more quick look around, "Jade may have catfhished someone, back in high school." He said, keeping his voice low. "Do you think she should try to pay them off, now, before they sue her?"

"Catfished?" David asked, holding a hand up to keep Jade from saying anything. Thanks to Mister Wests turning his back on her, literally, the older West didn't notice the hand.. "You mean, pretended to be someone else, got some girl she was having problems with to send pictures, of that girl in her underwear, then posted them on line? Yea, I know about that. The family has already worked things out."

"Good." Mister West said, smiling. "So all Jade's problems are behind her." he shifted so his side was now facing Jade, squaring himself to David.

"Not exactly, but we'll wait until her mother is here before we start talking about what she went through while living on her own." David gave a big smile. "So, where is your ex?"

"She's probably here, somewhere." Stan groaned. Then he glanced about, a courtesy look and nothing more, but his experience with the woman told him where to look, and he quickly spotted her. "Over there, with that tall, distinguished gentleman."

"The woman talking to Lieutenant Malone?" David said. "Okay, it looks like it's showtime." He glanced back at Jade. "Jade, please let Tori know we're gonna go talk to them, in the study." he then led the way, hesitating only long enough to be sure the pale girl hadn't slipped away into the crowd.

Jade sent her wife a quick text, and then followed Mister Vega into the house. They made it to her study, a room David knew because she'd pointed it out during their earlier tour. "Um, shouldn't we be getting my mom?"

"Gary will bring her." David assured her as they entered the room. "So, Jade, not to be too critical, but your study, it could use some furniture. Like maybe a desk, or, I don't know, anything..." He looked around the still unfurnished room.

"I have my office, just outside." Jade pointed towards the RV in the distance, while next to the house, it was off tot eh side, not so obvious from her study.

"But a study is a place to make your own." David argued. "Maybe place those things that would otherwise give my poor Tori a heart attack. You get to have all your dark hobbies, all your fascinations, and still give her a safe home to live in." There was movement as the study door opened. "Gary, and you are…?"

"Cat." Cat said. She was alone, and looked ready to fight. "Jade, your mom is on her way, but is so busy flirting with that cop, she's actually taking the long rout to get here." Then she looked past her friend at Mister West. "Hi, just wanted to let you know, it's dumb luck that your daughter is standing here, alive."

"CAT!" Jade screeched.

"No, this gets dealt with, now." Cat said, her voice dangerously calm. "I get it, people do collage, work, all that chiz, and never have any of the problems you had. So why not you? I think it's cause you were kicked out, without a chance to find a place to live, no friends to rely upon, no where to go. You didn't have any of the resources you'd need to survive. Plus, you were going to an expensive collage, with a good scholarship, but it didn't cover a lot of shit. Housing in that area isn't cheep. You had to pay for your car, for food, and by the time you had a job, there was no good place to stay. So I understand. I just don't understand why you didn't find a place before Soft Touch?"

"Soft Touch?" Mister West asked. He seemed oblivious to how angry Cat was, as the petite girl paced about, almost in Jade's face.

"They make adult films." Cat filled in. She'd turned to face the room, and Jade's dad, but her hands were floating, ready to lash out.

"So you were a whore?" A female voice startled them. "Jadelyn Kimberly West, I always knew you were a whore. I'm just glad you'd had Beck for the time you did, so you'd stop trying to take my boyfriends." A woman who looked a little like an older, if a touch shorter, version of jade stepped in, followed by Gary, who looked less then pleased by her outburst.

"Kate, still a bitch I see." Stan said. "She did what she had to, in order to pay for school. It's her past, and while I can't say I approve, at least I understand." He argued, like it made everything all right.

"NO!" Cat screamed in his face. "YOU! DON'T!"

Jade looked on, seeing things spiral out of control. "Um. David…?"

"Miss Valentine, maybe you should back up." David said, pulling the girl back a step.

"Cat, let me tell them." Jade almost begged, even as she took a step forward. 'Now I have to, cause she'll just blurt it out. I swear, even Trina had more tact.' Jade pushed to say something before someone, like Cat, filled the momentary silence. "I understand now, because I've been over this with my therapist, multiple times. I was in self destruct mode, looking to be punished, and boy did I find it. But I never worked, er, acted in porn. I was in production, editing, working the camera, whatever they needed. No, I never fucked for money, mom. I never was the threat you seemed to think I was. You just dated a bunch of pedophiles, and by high school, I was able to keep them away from me, so it looked to you like I'd stopped."

Mister West laughed. "What? You think that's funny?" Cat asked, once again in his face.

"Easy, miss Valentine." David said, pulling the girl back again.

"I lived in my car, cause life was so fucking expensive, and I couldn't bring myself to live with anyone else." Jade continued. It was a form of trance, saying what she was saying, because she knew she had to say it all or she might not be able to finish. "I was so sure I'd say, or do, the wrong thing, and they'd kick me out. I'd be alone again, a disgrace. So living in my car felt like a safer alternative." Jade looked lost, almost hopeless.

Jade's face hardened, for a moment. "And then, I found out it wasn't. Only, I told myself I was quick, clever, so the first couple of times I was almost raped, and got away, I felt like it was a game." She had a ghost of a smile, something that would have scared David if he hadn't seen things like that before. "Then, it got real, a lot faster then I'd have liked. I was raped, somewhere along the way, and almost killed twice. I wish I can say that the rape stopped me, made me find a safe place, only it didn't."

"What did?" Cat asked, momentarily turning away from her anger at Mister West. The concern in her voice was a vast difference from the rage she'd been displaying only a moment before. It forced a response from the damaged girl.

"Soft Touch." Jade informed her. "I was hurting, from the rape, ready to fight just to die. And it wasn't helping. I was almost raped a couple of more times before Soft Touch sold me this RV trailer they had, pretty much at cost. But they made too good a deal out of it, too hard to say no. They even financed it, let me pay out of my paychecks. Like the only real benefit they gave me, cause they paid crap. But they let me live in their parking lot, safely near their security. They gave me power, electricity, as well as access to the internet. They even gave me a sewage hookup. And yea, maybe they took advantage of me, of having me near. Maybe I worked a bit harder, longer, for them then my paychecks indicated. But it was the first time in years I had my own place, when they didn't need it for a dressing room, but it was my own place, and I was safe there."

"Before you say anything, she never tried to go home, cause you made it very clear that she wasn't welcome." Cat spat at Jade's parents, holding her anger, her hatred at bay for a moment. "Not saying the bitch didn't contribute, cause she did. Did an awesome job of alienating her friends. But you're her fucking parents. It was your job to take care of her."

"Um, Cat, projecting much?" Jade whispered. The room heard anyways, because as offended as mister West was, at that moment he was speechless.

"See, your kids a fucking genius, figured out I had my own issues with my parents not being there when I needed them." Cat said, glaring at everyone in the room. "Only I had friends, and a safe place to live. Hell, during some of the worst of it, back in High school, I had Jade. When things looked really dark, and I needed someone to hold my hand, help me through it, I had Jade. But Jade? Jade, so intent on proving you wrong, and right, and who the hell knows what else, she made sure she didn't have anyone until she found people as damaged as she was. And what do you know, they helped her out." A glare stopped Jade from defending her former employer. "They do fetish shit, girls in bondage getting whipped. Rape fantasies. God, how the hell could you work on that shit?" She let her face soften. "Anyways, they forced her to take a deal where they knew she'd show up, cause guess what? To a porn operation, production people are worth more then a hot girl willing to fuck for money, even one willing to take it up the ass. Maybe she don't get paid as much, but she was worth enough for them to invest in her, see her find her dreams. And still, it took finding Tori to save her fucking life, cause Jade was damaged, done. She was looking for an excuse to give up."

Cat moved to look Jade in the eye. "Sometimes, you fight for someone else, cause you don't believe your worth the fight any more. Jade, you are worth the fight, and Tori knows that."

"What about that girl she hurt, back in high school?" Stan asked, finding his voice. "What if her family sued? You have no idea what might have happened? Jade was responsible for putting pictures of her on line…"

"In her underwear." Cat finished. "Remember, we were her friends, and we took exception to that act. Why do you think she was so cut off from her friends. But the pictures, they didn't damage that girls career. No, some jerks named Carson did that."

"Regardless, we had to protect ourselves, our families." Stan insisted.

"Liar." Kate chimed in. "Yea, maybe I wasn't a great mother. Maybe I wasn't paying attention, let her need for a daddy figure get her in trouble, let some guys I was dating do things to her. But I wasn't the only one looking to be rid of that damaged sociopath." She glanced at Jade. "No offense."

"And now we have the truth." Cat breathed. Her hands were balled into fists, holding back the desire to throw the first blow. Jade, meanwhile, was standing there, taking it, and Cat wanted to know when she'd stop, lash out, and let these people know how much she'd been hurt.

"I think I can handle this from here." Jade said. However, she was shaking, holding on by a thread. Her anger, her biggest defense against the world, was breaking, and a tide of hurt was waiting to roll in, threatening to drown her.

"No, I think I will." David said, stepping into the middle of Jade's family, in between Jade and the Wests. "Mister West, you may not know it, but the victim of that prank, where she posted pictures of a girl in her underwear, that was my daughter. The same one who's outside, trying to host this party. And we've worked on things, grown to forgive Jade. You see, I get her, to a degree. She was lashing out, and needed a way to feel safe. But she was impulsive. Smart, but impulsive. Jade knew, back then, that doing anything more then underwear was illegal, while the underwear wasn't much worse then a bikini. Yes, we could have charged her with fraud, but that kind of stuff hard to prove sometimes. Besides, about that time, our own lives went to hell, from a series of other sources that we're pretty embarrassed about now. And my daughter, Jade's wife, she went through a lot of bad, things she hasn't fully told me." He glared at the West parents. "So yes, she may have hurt my little girl, but bringing her back to me, to her family, that helped ease the pain. Jade fought for my child, and helped her heal, a lot. She made money so my girl could have a place to live, this big house. And she made damn sure my girl was getting professional help. My daughter is stronger now, because of you child. So I've forgiven her for the prank, while you hold onto it, without even knowing who the hell her victim was." he turned back tot he pale girl. "Jade, I'm sorry, but they're not ready to be back in your life."

Cat stood there, in the office, watching as David dragged Jade out of it, toward her party. Gary lingered, just a moment, saying "Please, enjoy the party. Mister Oliver made a lot of food, so please eat, mingle, talk to people. Just, understand, Jade worked on her past, fought to be something better. Until you're willing to deal with her as anything more then that broken child you gave up on, my partner, hell, my friend, he isn't willing to let you near her. And I kinda agree with him." Then he followed his friend, making sure his surrogate family was okay.

Kate, Jade's mother, looked over at Stan and his current wife, Stacy, and smiled. "That Gary guy, quite a man, right?"

Stacy opened her mouth, and for the first time, spoke. "I doubt he likes you. He seems more into this family, and they like Jade."

"Tramp." Kate hissed.

"I don't think she so much slept with him as married his god daughter." Stacy said, shrugging at Kate. Then, glancing at Cat, she shifted, getting just a bit nervous. "Um, Stan, why don't you and Kate go enjoy the party, see more of Jade's success. I just need a moment."

Mister West hesitated to glare at Cat. "You were just lucky there were a couple of police officers here, because I'm willing to hit a lady."

"Pretty sure I'm more of a man then you are." Cat shot back.

"Stan, lets not make a scene." Stacy urged. "This girl obviously has her reasons for being upset, so let it go. I'll be out in a bit, okay?"

"Not too long." Mister West said. He pointed to her chest. "I'm planning on showing those off." Then, under Cat's glare, he made his way out. jade's mother had already left, once it was clear her ex wasn't about to throw down with a five foot tall girl.

"So, why are you so, um..." Stacy West seemed off balance as she approached.

"Back in high school, Jade pretty much kept me alive, and sane." Cat said, looking at the empty space around her. "When I was homeless, she found me a place to live. And she saved my life, literally, more then once."

"Well, Doctor Science, I just wanted to say, I'm a huge fan." Stacy gushed. "I work as a paraprofessional, which is basically an extra person in a classroom, and we watch a lot of your stuff. I look forward to rainy days, when I can see you explaining how things work."

Cat smiled. "Tori, Jade's wife, she's gonna be on my show." She seemed to relax at being with a fan. "Why don't we rejoin the party, before your jerk of a husband misses you."

"Sure..." Stacy said. "Um, will you be performing any of you amazing science tricks tonight?"

"I'll see what we can do." Cat assured her. "I'll see what we can do..."

:}

Thoughts?

Who loves Stan? Kate? Stacy? (Jade's dad, mom, and step mother.) Did Cat step over the line, or prompt Jade to action? Overall, what do you think will be the result of this little interaction? I don't see much hope for Jade's family, but you never know. Mister West seems mostly oblivious, judging people on if they're a success or a failure. He seems willing to forgive Jade for her past.

Okay, review, fill in the blanks, cause I don't have that much story left to tell. Just, review.

Next time, I don't bother to write about any of the tricks you can do with science. Just assume Cat puts on a show. We have other aftermath from this discussion to deal with.


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don't own Victoprious or any of it's characters.

Warning, last chapter (Ish)

:}

Tori was on her way to the meeting, while showing her mother a bit of the house, when she saw Jade race past, away from the study, out of the house, and turning in the direction of her trailer. Instantly, she knew something was wrong. "Mom, excuse me, but I think I need to see whats going on with Jade."

"I'll come with." Holly said, following her daughter towards the trailer. They were quickly joined by David, who was racing to catch up with Jade. "Is she?" She asked.

"Girls fast." David grunted. "And more upset then I thought."

"I think she's heading towards the trailer." Tori threw in. "It was her home for a while, after… So it may feel safe..."

"What happened?" Holly asked, even as they settled into a quick walk.

"It started when Miss Valentine let the Wests know that she had issues with them." David replied. "She was ready to just spill, let them know everything Jade had been do through. Forced Jade to open up before I could set the rules. In order to avoid letting her friend just spurt everything, Jade told them everything, no time to set things up, or set rules."

"She told them about the rape, or nearly getting killed" Tori asked.

"Miss Valentine told them Jade was lucky to be alive, then tore into her father." David said. "But she did mention Soft Touch, kinda early, and gave Jade's parents the impression she was a prostitute. The former misses West seemed almost vindicated at hearing that."

"Poor Jade..." Tori groaned.

"Miss Valentine seemed very upset, basically blamed everything Jade went through on her parents, saying she didn't have anywhere to go, or any fallbacks available when they kicker her out." He continued. "Short girl seemed to be sporting for a fight..."

"Well, Cat has been holding onto a lot of anger." Tori said, before realization hit. "Wait, was that why you didn't wait for me?"

"Your friend opened with how bad it was for Jade, before her mother was even in the room." He said, clearly upset by what had happened. They closed in on Jade's mobile office.

"Ca-at, where on earth did she get the idea that would help?" Tori asked the sky, even as they reached the trailer. The door, predictably, was locked.

"Give me a moment." David said, pulling a small leather case out of his pocket, and proceeding to pick the lock.

They entered the office, looking around the RV to see if Jade was there. The first part was set up as an office, with a desk, filing cabinets, and where the side expanded out, a small dining area that Jade used as a lounge slash meeting room. They made their way to the back, and Jade's private office slash bedroom. The door was unlocked, since Jade was probably in a hurry when she'd gotten there. Inside, the queen sized bad still dominated most of the room, but Jade was missing. David, however, knew where she was. "Look at the sheets, the way they've been mussed. She must have been running when she got here, jumped into bed, and bounced off the other side."

"Not that dumb." Jade's voice moaned from the far side of the bed. "Who am I kidding, I thought that deep down, my parents might have actually loved me. What a joke." The pale girl sounded like she was on the verge, and sobbing followed that statement.

"How…?" Holly asked.

"Her dad seems to think that getting raped is something you walk off, while I'm beginning to think that her mother believes it was all Jade's fault." David filled in. "Either way, those are not people I want near my daughter in law. I'm just sorry I was so busy making sure we were away from them, that I didn't realize Jade was about to rabbit."

"God, Jade, I'm so sorry." Tori called out, crawling over the bed to get to her wife. "Come on, baby, we have a deal. No more on the floor times for us. Up on the bed, or I'm having my dad pull you up."

"No threats." Holly sighed. "Jade, don't lay there on the floor." The older woman had made her way around the bed, and was giving the filmmaker a once over. "Maybe some bruising, but nothing broken, except maybe her pride."

Holly helped Jade up onto the bed, where Tori immediately spooned her. "Baby, it's all right. Tori's here for you. Relax, let Tori take the pain away." Jade, for her part, just let it out in a long, quiet groan, and continued to cry. She shook, but found comfort in her wife's embrace.

"Tori, I'm gonna go out, deal with the party." David said. "I'll Let your friends know that something came up, and your okay. You, rejoin the party when you can."

Holly watched the girls for a moment, then left with her husband. Only, she had a mission of her own. It took her only a few minutes to find Trina, and then the two of them had no problem finding Cat. "A moment of your time, please." Holly said through clenched teeth.

Cat agreed, and hey found a quiet spot to talk. "So, you're upset about my talk with mister West, aren't you?" The scientist asked.

"Yes." Holly spat. "Jade, not my concern. But the look of horror on Tori's face when she found out you told them..."

"First, I didn't tell them." Cat cut in, standing her ground. "Well, I didn't tell them much. I maybe let her dad know how bad it was, to a degree, and things kinda spilled out." Her hand shot up, letting the others know she had more to say. "But I totally get it! I messed up, totally misjudged where they were. Who they were. What kinds of people they'd become." Cat said, frustration giving way to a soft, apologetic tone as she realized how much she'd screwed up. Then, her voice turned hard again. Nodding she said "Yea, I forgot what bastards her parents were. Back when Trina blabbed, at our little get together, I assumed that people could take that information, maybe use it to let go of some of their anger. But it seems, when it comes to Jade, I have a lot of anger left over. And her parents, not that they deserve to be called that. But have you noticed that everyone's changed, even me, and yet, they're stuck in the same old shit. I mean, even hearing how bad it got for Jade, and why the fuck was she almost killed twice? No mater, she can tell me later. It's just, none of that, nothing, made even the slightest dent in their cold hearts. Nothing. No sign of compassion, of worry, of wondering if maybe she might still be hurt? I mean," She was shaking, rage building under her skin. "WHAT THE HOLY FUCK IS WRONG WITH THOSE PEOPLE?" Cat screamed, before calming her voice down to a loud talk. "I mean, Jade could have died, and instead of feeling the least bit worried, her dad is all, 'Thats okay, as long as she made it,' while her mothers a totally psycho BITCH!" Cat took a moment, breathing deeply, while the Trina and Holly stood in shock at the outburst.

"I missed something big, didn't I?" Trina asked.

"Still doesn't make what you did right." Holly hissed. But she was calming down. "Look, recently Davids been through a lot of training to help defuse tense situations. You should have let him handle things. Probably would have found out the same things, and Jade would have been hurt, but everyone wouldn't have been so worked up." Cat opened her mouth to speak. "I get it, you were trying to help. But you didn't. You should have let David handle things." She gave a big exhale.

"Still wanna hit him, and her mother..." Cat grumbled, sounding like a scolded child. Her eyes, however, seemed to find something else to to lock on while she was looking away from Holly. The older woman followed Cat's eyes.

"That girl over there, thats Jade's mother?" Holly asked, pointing Kathrine out. It was esey, given how hard Cat was glaring at the woman.

"The one eye fucking the tall guy?" Cat asked. "Yea, thats her. And that guy, I think he's a cop. I know I've seen him somewhere before." For that moment, her anger was muted by a faded memory.

"Thats Gary." Trina said. "Pity she's such a bitch, cause I can see where Jade's looks come from. But I'm thinking he's done letting his dating hurt this family."

"He said he was your dad's partner, or friend, or both." Cat filled in.

Holly gave a quick shrug, and focused on Jade's mother, just for a moment. "So thats Jade's mother, huh? Gary can do better."

"Jade's dad, Stan, turns out his new wife's a fan of my show." Cat said, almost randomly. "I wish to heaven I was into girls, cause that jerk deserves to have someone steal his woman."

"Lots of anger." Trina said. "Have you considered talking to someone about that? Therapy helped both Tori and Jade, so it's bound to help you too."

"I've seen someone." Cat said. "Then again, that was Lane, and after my brother left, I kinda let my therapy lapse. I just couldn't let myself be dependent on anyone else. I mean, Jade wanted me to continue, but Sam thought it was a waste of time."

Holly was still mad, but her eyes were now on the woman openly and shamelessly flirting with Gary. "THAT called Jade a whore?" She asked, but no one answered.

"Tell me about Sam." Trina asked, ignoring her mother for a moment. "Sounds like you gave her a lot of power in your life."

Holly was, in different measures, pissed so many people. Cat, Jade, Jade's parents, and Gary for good measure, even though she knew he was probably not responsible for hurting her family. 'I wonder, should I find this Stacy, see if she might be into girls. Usually not my thing, but right now, I just wanna hurt someone, make them pay for messing with my family...' However, she was also paying attention to her daughters conversation with the TV scientists.

"She was like Jade." Cat said, answering Trina. "Clever, and willing to help out. She got us the furniture from 'Life's a Drag,' after that show got canceled without reason. And, and she looked after me, the way Jade used too. Only, over time, it became more and more about her. I suspect, when she let me stay in jail, in another state, just because my Nona was cooking for her like I used too, I should have seen that as a hint that she wasn't really my friend. But she saved my life, back when we first met..."

"And you gave her a place to stay, helped her found a business, all that chiz." Trina countered. "You have to understand, to her, you were a friend, and a business partner, just not someone who meant a lot to her. Not like what you and Jade had."

"I know." Cat said. "I was so jealous, when Jade and Sam started hanging out together. They have so many of the same interests, and I felt left out. But in the end, Jade's a lot, um, smarter then Sam, while Sam seemed more attached to this Carly chick in Seattle."

"A life long friend?" Holly asked. "Like Jade was to you?"

"See, she gets it." Cat groaned. "If Jade had just come back, let me pull a prank on her, then lived with me in Goomers closet, everything would have been all right."

"Except she wouldn't have been looking to make things up with Tori." Holly said, now a bit calmer. Her revenge fantasies had helped, but so had realizing she was externalizing a lot of guilt. "Sometimes, things happen for a reason." It was strange, Holly felt she had to explain that to Cat, to herself, so that everyone could let go. 'I want to forgive you, because I see now who you are. You really are Jade's sister, aren't you? This is gonna make life complicated for Tori, but at least I see why your helping them out now.' She thought at Cat, and it felt, good.

"Doesn't discount your anger." Trina chimed in. "You have every right to be angry. I mean, you described Jade as a sister, and then her parents, her own flesh and blood, they feel less for her then you do? Hell, it sounds like they felt less for her then I do. So I get the anger. And Rage, rage can be misplaced love, and it sounds like you love her."

"Just not in the way Tori does." Cat said. "But yea, she was my sister. She is my sister" A few seconds passed. "Wow, Trina, you know a lot about his chiz, don't you?"

"P.R. is a lot about understanding why people do things, and how to spin the actions to have a better interpretation." Trina explained. "So, you and Jade, your gonna have to work on the love, cause she does love you, and you both need to heal a lot of the hurt that festered for seven years."

"No I don't." Cat said. "I got even, so now we're good."

"Except you wanted to rip her parents a new one." Holly pointed out. Her own rage was gone, replaced by an understanding that was helping her see how her family was going to heal, survive, and grow into the future.

"Yea, that." Cat agreed. "Well, I gotta go find some chiz, cause I promised the new Misses West a science show." The petite girls voice lowered. "I don't think she's all there."

Holly watched her walk off. "What do we do about her?"

"We let her know when she's wrong, and somehow, with love, hold her accountable for the hurt she does." Trina said.

"Well, it sounds like Cat just shortcuted what Jade should have been telling her folks." Holly sighed. "I think, however, she has to agree to be a lot less impulsive, cause my girls, they need support to heal, not a dark avenger rushing in to make things right."

"Give her time, mom." Trina said. "Jade's back in her life. She feels strongly about that, and will probably be willing to grow up a bit, just to be in Jade's life. We've got this."

"And if not, I may just stick around, to give that girl a piece of my mind." The older woman gave a dark smile, only for it to fade. "Only, I have something of my own past to deal with first."

"Oh, what?" Trina asked.

"I'll tell you when your older." Holly promised, heading back to the party.

Trina was left confused. 'Do I wanna know?'

Beck smiled as he watched Cat rejoin the party. She wasn't stomping the way she was earlier. 'Glad she's calmed down. Maybe we should talk, cause it looks like she's a challenge these days. Or maybe I should remember, you cannot go back...' He sighed. "So, mister West, I never found out, what happened with Carol?"

"She just wasn't the right material for me." Stan said. "I needed someone more supportive, and she just didn't understand. It was a mutual decision."

"You cheated on her too?" Beck asked. "So, is Stacy your fourth wife, or are we up to number five?"

"I don't like your tone, young man." Mister West stood to his full height.

"I just think it's kinda odd, the only wife you've been faithful to, not counting this one, cause I don't know, was number one." Beck gave a shrug. "Just saying, maybe Jade wasn't the only one damaged by her betrayals."

"Oh, I was hurt," The older man agreed, "But a man doesn't let that get him down. They shake of the bad times, push forward, and keep trying until they succeed. I'd thought Jade had done that, but it seemed she was weak." He gave a sigh. "Too bad. I have other children, a son from wife number two, two daughters from number thee, and another son from number four here. They all could have learned from her, seen how being strong is the only way to succeed. But I guess they'll have to settle for having a sister who makes the occasional headline." He glared in the direction Jade had disappeared into. "When she's ready, she can meet them. I suspect, this house, it should be used before her weakness costs her everything."

"Only problem with that is, Jade has friends now." Beck countered. "We'll be strong for her, for Tori, when times are bad. We messed up, in the past, we missed the chance to be there for them both. But now, we're gonna be there. And if your kids are lucky, they'll get to see what friendship really is. Now, I have to mingle." He stepped away from the man to check on how people were doing, and see if Robbie, who'd taken over as cook, needed a break.

Tori held Jade for another hour before guilt over not attending to her guests drove her from her wife's bed. "Baby, you can stay here, or come with. Either way, I gotta take care of the party. We're the hosts, and we've been gone a long, long time. So, Jadey, will you be all right?"

"That depends entirely on if you insist on calling me Jadey." Jade said. "You know I don't like cutesy nicknames." She pulled herself to her feet, and walked into the RV's bathroom, turning on the water to clean herself up. "I'll be out in a bit." Jade seemed to be doing a lot better.

"Funny, I've been out for years." Tori said, then she left, before her wife could throw a wash cloth at her.

Once outside, Tori found the party going strong. Beck and the others had taken the duty of circulating, acting as hosts while the two of them had been recovering. Tori took the opportunity to mingle, finding that while the party was going strong, it was also winding down. She did talk to a couple of people, and over the next hour had a good time, but slowly a trickle of guests made their way to talk to her, or Jade, who'd rejoined the party, before packing it up and heading out.

Tori managed to miss any talk with Jade's parents. Both were there, and seemed intent on enjoying themselves, but neither made the effort to talk to her, and so many others did. Finally, they left, and it felt like the party was coming to an end, even as the uncomfortable weight of their presence left with them.

Jade had been saying goodbye to the last of her friends from Soft Touch. "So, send me their pictures, and their resume's, and I'll see what I can do." She promised. "You really gotta go?"

"We have filming to do tomorrow." Her friend said. Jade knew, in porn, there was always filming going on.

"Well, see ya." She said. "And give my regards to Jason. I kinda owe him. Just don't know what for."

They laughed nervously, and made their ways out. Jade watched them go. "Thats most of the guests. Who's left?"

"Just family." Tori said, guiding her wife to the back yard, and the patio furniture where those few guests, the one's they were the closest to, sat waiting. "I should warn you, Sinjin, he helped set up some of our electric chiz, so Trina may have broken in a room or two while we were recovering."

Jade smiled, finding the two sitting together, in their swimwear, on one of the wicker couches. It was getting late, but still early enough for them to continue to stick around, even thought the sun had abandoned them to a beautiful sunset. "Just wait until the new pool house is built." Jade told her girl. "This area is gonna be so used, regardless of the weather, cause we'll be able to throw winter pool parties, even in the strongest rains."

Tori laughed, giving her wife a squeeze. "Looking forward to that."

Jade looked at where Cat sat, talking to Beck, while Mike was working with Allen at getting their drinks ready and served. "Someone needs to tell them we don't need waiters." Jade said.

"Their assistants." Tori scolded her wife. "Some people need to serve." She pointed. "So, whats up with Beck and Cat?"

"If they get together, I'm hiring security." Jade said. "Gonna search all guests for hidden sperm."

"Sounds painful." Tori said, giggling.

Holly was talking to Annie, while Gary and David were in what looked like negotiations with Robbie. Courtney stood by her man, nodding along as the cops continued proposing their idea for a police show.

Andre, strangely, was by himself, looking at the water. Tori detached from her wife and made her way over. "Penny for your thoughts."

"Cat and Beck." The musician said. "I overheard them negotiating their relationship. Beck's right, Cat needs someone to rein her in. She does go overboard." He took a sip of his drink. "Who knows, it might even work."

"It might." Tori agreed. "And what about you? Are you seeing anyone?"

"I've been dating." Andre says. "No one serious, not yet." He smiled at his friend. "This sounds like the place where I should state that I'm doing just fine, so you don't need to find me someone."

"Wasn't thinking…" Tori shook her head. "I don't know that many girls right now. I just, I worry about you."

"I'm not the one married to Jade." Dre said. "Before you say anything, I'm talking about how damaged she seems."

"She does, cause she is." Tori replied. "My dad wants to beat her dad to a pulp. Not gonna do anything about that. Not much we can do about them."

"So, wasn't Cat seeing some guy?" Andre asked.

"She was living with some producer." Tori answered. "But they're far from married. Turns out he had a boyfriend, and while Cat didn't mind, the boyfriend did. So, she was stalking Jade's assistant, but I think all parties agreed that was gonna cause too many problems. Cat's changed, a lot, and she needs someone to ground her. Of course, just grounding hers gonna be a major challenge."

"How big a challenge?" Andre asked. "Cause it's starting to sound like Beck's in for one hell of a time. Should I start planning their wedding gift?"

"If what Jade told me is right, maybe a baby shower gift first, to see if they can handle that together." Tori said. "Then again, we're gonna have to start patting you guys down for turkey basters."

"I don't get it." Andre said.

Tori started to explain. "Cat offered to get pregnant with us, cause she feels we owe her a..."

"You know what? I'm good. I don't need to know any of that." Andre said quickly, trying to stop his best friend. "In fact, right now, I choose to believe that babies come from storks. Yea, storks, those birds do us all a solid, carrying new life into the world. Storks, gotta love 'em."

"Someone's living in denial." Cat said. "Um, I just came over to talk to Tori here, and think that maybe I missed something. Would you like to see our controversial, unaired episode on small pets? It includes three different animal births, including a goldfish and a gerbil mommy. We managed to keep both from eating their young, so I don't understand why the networks never bothered to show it. I hear it's very popular in biology classes."

"So, Cat, what'd you need?" Tori asked.

"Beck told me about Mister Wests other kids. He has like five of them." Cat held up her hand, fingers out, to emphasis.

"Jade has five siblings?" Tori asked, almost excited.

"Oh, right..." Cat dropped her thumb. "She has four, two of each, and they need to know their sister. Only problem is, two of them have mothers who aren't in the picture any more, but I'm betting, mister West, he can contact them, get them here for a visit."

"My dad dislikes that man with a passion." Tori said. "Just shy of deep investigations, his car gets pulled over twice as often, if there's an infraction then they'll find it level dislike. But my dad, he's not that guy. So Mister West will have to just accept that Jade isn't ready to spend time with his uncaring ass."

"No." Cat said. "As much as that man wazzes me off, he's just insensitive. Needs a reality check. We can deal with him. And his current wife, she seems okay. Not saying you bring him in, cause look around at your family. We're here for you. Just saying, make excuses to have them, your in laws on his side, come by periodically. Doubt he'll soften his stance, but the kids, they get to know their sister."

"And you?" Tori asked.

"Me and Beck are gonna make babies." Cat said, smiling an innocent smile, reminiscent of her back in High School. "I'll need to make sure my contract covers me getting all preggers, but it's gonna happen."

"Yea, been telling people we're not letting you in here without being searched for..." Tori started.

"Yea, yea, make jokes about basting turkeys." Cat said. "You realize, I'd do it with a modified syringe, and maybe find another way to get you both. Like toys, do you guys use them? I could build one as a delivery system, and get you that way. But, I'm gonna wait, give you both a chance to get more settled in your lives. Beck, he's ready now. He just has no idea how ready he is."

Cat was looking at the handsome Canadian, who was sitting next to Jade on the wicker couch, laughing about something. A big smile crossed her face.

"Don't worry, I'll be there for him." Andre chimed in, reminding both girls he was still there.

"That could be interesting." Cat said, her innocent look gone. "My gods, think of the possibilities..."

Tori laughed as her best friend broke the first rule of a swimming pool, and ran away. He made it to the couch where Gary and Holly were talking, hiding behind the older two. "I think you scared him." Tori said.

"Wimp." Cat spat. "A man needs to be open to experimentation. But it's all good. So, Monday, a whole new future begins for you. Getting excited?"

"Jade's gonna be so busy, so it's good I'll have something to take my mind off of things." Tori agreed. "So, lets go join the family. Looks like we're about to turn on the outdoor fire pit, and roast marshmallows."

Cat nodded, walking behind her friend as they joined the others. Jade, she reasoned, looked so much more comfortable here, with her friends. 'No,' Cat corrected herself, 'Her family. Jade's done it, she's come home, and now has her family around her again. Sister, we're gonna be parents together, raise out kids as cousins, give them so much love. Hell, even Allen's on board, and that guy can be such a creaper. But it's time, and Jade, we're creating this bubble of love for you. Grow, heal, and remember, your parents, they lost out, cause they didn't see the miracle you were.' She stopped to give Beck a quick, platonic hug, before sliding over to wrap her arms around the pale girl. Tori was on the other side of Jade, holding her.

Then, the extended family, adopted and all, decided to break out in song, to really enjoy the warm California evening. "Welcome home."

:}

I know, kinda sudden, but hay, it had to end somewhere, and I just haven't been able to decide if I can even write an epilogue. So, thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed, favorited, or just read this story. I know it feels like so long ago when I started posting it, but it was only eleven weeks. And again, I wanna thanks the many people who enjoyed this story along with me.

So, thoughts? Let me know what you think about Holly, or David being able to pick locks. What about Cat? I know she has her fans, as well as those who wanna see her burned at the stake. Thoughts about jade's dad, who cheated on every wife after the first cheated on him. And what about Sinjin, you know he's looking for an excuse to impress his girl.

So, comments, thoughts, whatever, go ahead and give me a review. Thanks again for reading, and I'll see you when I have something new to post.


	23. Epilogue: Pictures

Disclaimer: Still don't own, Nickelodeon and Schneider's Bakery, Inc, own it. Maybe they'll give us some kind of actual conclusion, but I digress. I won nothing, I make nothing, I see nothing…

Warning, this story is over. This chapters also over eleven thousand words. Good luck.

Flashbacks in _italics_

:}

Epilogue: Pictures.

:}

Jade was going through her on line scrap book, looking at the pictures. Sometimes she'd smile, others she'd frown, and more then one brought tears to her face. But mostly, the memories were happy. Jade was, as she'd taken to doing when stressed, just editing her public collection, pictures she let just about anyone download. 'Like this one.' She thought, smiling at the picture of the gang, all dressed up, just outside a theater. 'The day my second film, my first romantic comedy, opened. The day Beck became a star...'

 _The group, or most of them, were milling about, everyone ready for the evening. They'd gathered at Beck's home for the simple reason that had become Cat stubborn as anything, and refused to meet up anywhere but their, or Jade's, home, and Tori felt it would be better to meet at Beck's. Robbie was missing, having agreed to ride over with Sinjin and Trina. Andre was also missing, or rather late, but was expected soon. "So you ready?" Jade asked._

" _No, this dress fits all wrong." Cat gripped. The goth had to agree, Cat had every reason to be upset, since she was eight months pregnant. The petite girl looked huge in her dress, and so was glaring at everyone who wasn't, save maybe Jade. "How in the world did anyone think this dress would look good on me? Huh?"_

" _CAT!" Beck snapped. Allen, for his part, stepped closer, in case Beck was ready to lose it. But the Canadian wasn't close to the edge so much as having had learned that to get Cat's attention, sometimes you have to be ready to scream. "I told you we needed to wait. But no, you had to get pregnant as soon as you got permission from the show. That means that maybe, you put up with maternity clothing. And maybe, you accept that not everyone was ready to be pregnant."_

" _It's not like I said it was mandatory." Cat growled. "And Carlos, he should have considered it. I'm sure we could have found a way to get him pregnant."_

" _Who's..." Beck started._

 _Tori sighed. "You got me." She admitted, raising her hand. "Pregnant. You got me to get pregnant." She shifted looking at everyone. "I'm pregnant." She announced._

" _Smooth." Jade whispered to her wife._

" _I..." Cat stood there, shocked. "I didn't. I mean, I tried, but Jade, she was so careful… How?"_

" _The real question is who." Tori said, smirking. "However, I'll be showing by the time we get back to filming, so the producers will be happy. They'll have to deal with yet another pregnant on air talent." She knew they'd had their hands full with Cat's hormones._

" _Yea, but you're not the main character, just a reoccurring." Cat said, but seemed to be feeling better. "Wait, doesn't it take like a year or more to finish editing and post production on a movie, once it's done with principle filming?" Cat shifted, suddenly aware of something wrong. "Not to mention the time it takes to market a movie. And your film was done filming in..." She started counting backwards._

" _First, it can be up to a year." Jade said. "But yea, I rushed to get the editing done, so you wouldn't be carrying around a baby when we opened. Besides, this time of year is better for opening movies. Especially romantic comedies."_

" _I suppose." Cat considered, making a thinking face. "Okay, I accept your explanation. So, Tori, how far along, and who's the father?"_

" _Just under a month, and Jade." Tori answered. "And oh my god, that was an expensive procedure. And it felt like it took forever, cause it took three month for the first try. The entire time we were filming together in London, plus the time Jade here was finishing up her other project. All those injections and procedures and chiz. And even then, they told us we had like a thirty percent chance of a baby taking hold. But we did it, first try." Tori beamed with pride. "So now our babies can be cousins, and grow up together, like you wanted."_

" _Yea, don't have much time to be a parent, but Tori swore, if we didn't, you'd find a way." Jade added. "This was, we get to choose the father, even if Tori was out of her mind with her choice. I mean, me?"_

" _You'll do great." Beck tried to offer his ex support._

" _We'll make time." Tori assured her. "By the way, thanks for putting me on the soundtrack. I just hope that it's subtle enough that the Carsons won't notice, cause we both know they'll have kittens if they find out your going around the blackballing?" She gave a nervous smile._

" _Nahh, we're good." Jade assured her wife, and everyone else. "When we finished principal filming, the Hollywood buzz I started getting was overwhelming. Hell, I took advantage, had Beck do my next film, got started immediately, even as I edited and had effects and chiz pout on this one. Then I found out Cat was pregnant, so I made sure to get everything done as quickly, if just a touch over budget, as possible. You know, so she can be here at my premier, and we won't have to worry about a babysitter."_

" _Lots of late nights." Tori whispered to Beck, who just nodded._

" _Eight more months, huh?" Cat asked, glaring at Tori. "Okay, I accept your being pregnant with me." Her face lit up. "We're gonna have a nursery at the show now. Take care of our tykes."_

 _They all seemed happy, and were starting to congratulate Tori, and Jade, on expecting their first child._

 _A short time later, Andre walked in, flanked by Micheal. "Sorry we're late, but Mike here didn't have a tux, was planning on renting." Andre said. "I told him how crazy that was, cause he's gonna be going to so many openings. Not to mention the awards show. Like, this film, I have me a hunch it's got at least one award worthy song on it." He gave a less then modest smirk. "Anyways, I figured he needed to own his own tux, so I took him over to this place I know that sells used tux's, one's celebrities wore once on loan, then returned, and bought him one that Wade Collins wore at some event. Had to refit it, but hay, they sold it cheap. Paid more for the alterations." He stopped when he saw the dark glare Cat had leveled at him. "Uh, hi?"_

" _So, what'd I miss?" Micheal asked._

" _How long did you know Tori was pregnant?" Cat threatened. She looked ready to fight._

" _Cat, your carrying around our child." Beck reminded her._

" _Yea, I'd give her over for you to hold, but we're not quite there yet, are we?" Cat said, sarcasm cutting a shallow wound._

" _So your having a girl, huh?" Andre said, approaching Beck. "Congratulations, man. You must be so thrilled." He glanced over at Cat. "Then again, Beck isn't the one doing the heavy lifting, is he? Ya know what? Maybe I'll just stay over here, where it's safe, and talk with Tori here. She's my girl."_

" _Don't think hiding behind another pregnant woman's gonna save you, Dre." Cat threatened. "I'm gonna make it my life's goal to get you. So the next groupie you run into, she's gonna be, like, extra fertile. Breath too hard, and she'll be hitting you up with a paternity suit."_

" _Hormones, right?" Andre asked Tori. "Glad your the one carrying..." He froze, not moving, as if Jade hunted based upon movement. He thought he felt her breath on his neck, raising heckles._

" _No worries, I agree with you." Jade said. "Still working out so much shit, so not really ready to have a life growing inside me. Add in the hormones, and who knows how much damage I could cause." She flashed an un-Jade like smile. "But hay, we got Cat here into therapy, so that shows we're changing. With luck, maybe I'll be ready, down the line, when it's my turn."_

" _Well, I kinda had to get pregnant, once we found out that Sinjin and Trina were having a baby." Tori admitted, giving her wife an odd look that somehow mixed admiration and evil intent._

" _Baby, I swear, it won't happen again." Jade said, smiling. "I mean, if I'd have known, I'd have provided condoms at the office. But hay, they got married while she still wasn't showing that much, so it's all good."_

" _Wait, your supposed to get married before the kid comes?" Cat asked. "Man, you guys are so old fashioned."_

" _Trina got pregnant at Jade's office?" Allen asked. He usually liked to stay in the background, but that was a question he felt had to be asked._

" _Apparently, while getting all hot and bothered over setting the electronics at my office, Sinjin and Trina forgot to bring protection." Jade explained. "So they have Son, David Vance Van Cleef. He was born just a months ago."_

" _My parents, along with Annie and Stacy, are watching him, cause Trina is determined to see the premier. Said we owed her that much." Tori said. "But does she really need to see this opening? I mean, I'm not in this one. I have a supporting role in the one we just finished, so you'd think she'd want to see that one." She sighed. "I'd rather have my parents, and their, um, significant others, there with me tonight. Trina should be there for her child."_

" _Uhh." Jade groaned. "Tori, I snuck you into the sound track, cause the Carsons, they can't touch me now. This movie is lined up to be a major hit, securing Beck here a lot of future work, which he's gonna need cause he's Cat's partner, and we both know it's gonna cost him, sooner or later."_

" _I'm seeing a fucking therapist." Cat snapped. "What the fuck more do you want?"_

" _Sinjin and Trina to show up." Jade said. "I need to get there early. Set chiz up. It's my premier."_

" _Oh, I thought they were meeting us there." Tori said. "Along with Robbie and Courtney, cause she's Sinjin's sister."_

" _Like I trust them near my electronics unsupervised." Jade said, smiling a dark smile. "Not yet ready for another member to this family. Let the poor girl rest." As Jade smiled at her own joke, Tori was checking her phone._

" _Trina's on her way." Tori assured her wife. "They're in their limo, and I think we should be in ours. People, it's show time. Cat, you look great. Totally maternal."_

" _I have bosoms." Cat replied. "That's seen as maternal. Then again, if size determiner how many you could feed, Jade should carry, cause she can feed an army." Jade just gave a quick, harmless glare._

" _One quick question, who's Stacy?" Mike asked._

" _Oh, she's Jade's third stepmother." Andre explained. "Way I heard it, from Tori, so you know it's true, Tori's mom, Holly, she seduced Stacy. See, the former misses Vega was wazzed at Jade's dad for a while, and when she found out that he was having yet another affair, went and found the poor, reeling girl. She seduced her, just to hurt Jade's dad. Not sure if it works, cause apparently he's not one to admit when he's hurt. But that all happened about three months ago. So Stacy and Stan, Jade's dad, they're getting a divorce, and yes, it's ugly. Funny thing is, Annette, Davids second wife, she convinced Holly to try and do something to make up for her actions, cause Holly was only doing it to try and hurt mister West, and Stacy really is a sweet girl, if kinda, um, not all there."_

" _Very diplomatic." Cat said, her voice flat._

 _Andre continued, ignoring the interruption. "She's not so much dumb as deliberately innocent. Anyways, the fallout is they, Holly and Stacy, are working on having a relationship. Annie has been giving them pastoral counseling, helping both with their relationship. It's, um, if I'm honest, it's weird, but David insists it's good for them all."_

 _Mike gave off a low whistle. "It's like a soap opera around here." But people were moving, so he followed as everyone headed out. He and Andre headed off to the Vega limo, where they'd be riding with Tori and Jade. Beck and Cat were riding together in their own limo, and Robbie and Courtney were going with Sinjin and Trina._

" _And to think, David was the one thinking of having another kid." Andre joked. "What? I'm Tori's best friend. I hear a lot of the chiz thats going on in her life. Sometimes, even more then I wanna know." He closed the door to the limo, and they sailed off into the Los Angeles evening. 'So tonight, it's about Jade's success. I know, buzz isn't the same as success, and while the critics can kill the movie, they aren't gonna make it succeed. Only time, and Jade's talent, will tell if she put that song in too soon.'_

Jade smiled, again, at her memories of that evening. That night that signaled more then just Tori's official exodus from the blackball list. It was also their first announcement, to their friends, and later family, that little Tawney was coming into the world. Jade had so many memories about what followed. About the press junkets she and Tori did, even as her wife grew both in fame, and as the pregnancy progressed, in size. 'They say in vitro has a much higher rate of twins. Kinda glad we didn't have em, not yet, cause Tori swore, at about the eight month mark, that if she has twins, I'd be carrying next. Twice.' A dark chuckle escaped her lips. "Like you'd ever let me carry." She breathed out, happy about her life.

More pictures crossed her sight. Happy one's about the success of her movie, and Beck's embarrassment at having to bring the increasingly foul mouthed Cat with him to press events. The overwhelming excitement of Cat giving birth, and the ocean of paparazzi there to cover that event. 'Robbie was interviewed, by someone who knew he used to date Cat. Thats how big that moment was. Poor Beck, raising star with a major hit on his hands, and the mother of his child was more famous for her work in children's entertainment. But it was good for him, helped him keep from getting a swelled head. Then, they had Rebecca, Becky, and that really anchored him. Somehow, I doubt he ever saw having a child as the challenge he always wanted, but she's helped him see whats really important to him. Glad he has her, and Cat."

But the pictures, the many accumulated over such a short time, shifted to another one, one that should have been a happy memory. But the memories it called where of a darker time. 'I remember when this was taken. It felt like we were on top of the world, and everything was falling apart. Guess we weren't as ready as we thought for the fame, cause it was tearing us to pieces.'

It was a picture of Andre, sitting on a chair, holding a baby in his lap, phone in hand, using the mirror to take the selfie. Jade smiled, just a moment, before letting that memory dominate her thoughts..

 _Andre shuffled at the door. "Look, I know it's late, and she's probably not here, but I was wondering, could you leave her a message?"_

 _Jade glared at him. "Again? Didn't I do this for you just two years ago?"_

" _I really wanna talk to Tori." Andre said. "Please, tell me she's at the spa, and will be back, all rested and ready to face life, in jut a few hours."_

" _Tori is out." Jade said, her voice hollow._

" _Wait, whats going on here?" Andre wondered. "Is there trouble in this happy home?"_

" _You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Jade snapped, standing to her full height. "You'd love it if my home life was torn asunder by the unexpected pressures of our daughter? Well, we're fine. Just fine." The anger in her voice warred with something else, something broken, and that second sound screamed at Andre's producer and music trained ears. One thing he knew was tones._

 _Andre sighed. "Whats wrong?"_

" _She thinks I'm jealous." Jade said, accepting she needed to talk to someone. "Jealous? Me? I've told her, over and over, if she finds a better deal, to take it."_

" _But you are jealous." Andre countered. "Just, not the way people think about when they say someone is. You're always tearing yourself up, worrying about who might be taking whats yours. And I get that. I really do. I mean, just the history I knew back at Hollywood Arts kinda explained…" He cut himself off, looking around for a second. "Um, can I come in. While this is a very good neighborhood, this conversation needs to be held inside, over something alcoholic."_

" _Come on in." Jade groaned. "I'm only doing this because I don't wanna be along right now." she said, drifting towards their large living room._

" _Where's Tawney?" Dre wondered_

" _With Tori." Jade moaned. "I'm losing her. We were fine, in the rough times. But I changed, and she can't stand me any more..." Jade was on the edge, holding back tears by the thinnest of threads. Her friend could tell just how much she was hurting, but had no indication how bad things might be. He did know, the high school Andre, would just cut and run._

" _Tori loves you." Andre tried. "Jade, she loves you, and wouldn't up and leave." Something caught his eyes. "Besides, it looks like she left some of her things here. How much did she take, anyways?"_

" _She was loaded up when she left, all angry at me. I'm sure she had everything she'd need." Jade groaned._

" _Jade, you have a baby, just over a year old." Andre reminded her. "You don't just leave. You take the diapers, the toys, at least one change of clothes, food, whatever you may need, cause the odds of it being wherever your going, kinda low."_

" _She didn't take the nanny." Jade said, but the sting wasn't quite there._

" _She wouldn't, would she?" Dre replied. "You know what? I'm gonna call her, find out whats going on."_

" _Don't." Jade said. "She doesn't love me any more. Let her be. I'll, I'll find a way to move out, let her have this house. She always wanted the house."_

 _Andre nodded, more understanding then agreeing, and walked over to the side to make his call. "Tori, whats up girl." He said. "Jade's here, having kittens."_

" _Good." Tori said, and it sent chills down his spine. "I hope she suffers."_

" _What did she do?" He asked, now eyeing the one time goth._

" _She expects us to rely on nannies to help raise Tawney." Tori said. "You know I want us to be good parents. That means giving of ourselves sometimes. So she can stop pushing so hard, and maybe help me with the kid."_

" _Thats what this fights about?" Andre asked. "So you get wazzed at her, the one night shew tried to be here for you, and walked out? Where are you?"_

" _Not telling." Tori said. "You'll only tell Jade."_

" _Won't, cause at this moment, she's figuring out how to divide your assets. She's giving you the house, by the way." Andre said._

" _What the hell is wrong with her?" Tori groaned. "Can't she just accept she's wrong, come begging to me for fogginess, and move on?"_

" _Maybe she would, if he were one hundred percent wrong." Dre said, smiling. "No, I don't know where you are, but we need to get this solved, so my problems can be addressed."_

" _I'm at a hotel." Tori said. "I wanted to go where she wouldn't think to look for me."_

" _And you want her all crazy, looking for you?" He added. "Tori, what the hell? This isn't just about raising your kid. Whatever it is, you need to talk it out. Jade's better, but she's still terrified of having a fight with you. This isn't helping."_

" _No." Tori said, then hung up._

 _Andre knew what to do._

 _Tori (From Andre): Go ahead, keep acting like Cat, see where that gets you._

 _He sent the message, then turned to the next part of his problem. "Jade."_

" _I think I can live in the trailer. Hell, Tori claims I already do. But I can move in there, and work out my housing from there." Jade said, using Andre as her sounding board._

" _How the hell did jealous come out of you and her using nannies?" Andre asked._

" _She wanted to hire this girl, Russian, hot, as an au pair." Jade explained. "I wanted to know if this was the person she wanted to be leaving our child with for hours each day. Plus, I work a lot of hours. I was worried I was being replaced."_

" _Tori said you..." His phone rang. "Uh, excuse me."_

" _If it's Tori, tell her I'm not putting a prostitute on the payroll. She can hire someone we both approve of, or no one." Jade said, sounding final. Then she marched upstairs. Andre understood her business like attitude was just her way of holding in the tears._

 _Andre stepped away to answer his phone, using his most causal tone of voice. "Tori, whats up, girl?"_

" _How the hell am I like Cat?" Tori demanded, keeping her voice down. He could feel it, she was pissed. He couldn't contain his smile at her reaction, because it was the one he wanted._

" _You made demands, and then left when she didn't give in." Andre said. "Plus, I'm not sure you and her are even having the same argument. Tori, whats going on?"_

" _We're parents, we have money, and she acts like the second makes it easier for the first." Tori explained. "Then she suggests we hire an Au Pair, and the best choice just happens to have D cups. So she's saying no, and I'm saying she's being unreasonable, and we kinda go from there."_

" _I'm on the way home." Tori growled. "I'm just waiting for the valet. Keep Jade there. I'm wanna talk to her. Ohh, yea, she's getting such a talking too." Her voice turned dangerous, almost manic, before she hung up._

' _Okay, at least she's coming home. Knew calling her Cat would put her in a fighting mood. Now to do the same with Jade, while not get killed as I get them to talk.' Dre thought. 'However, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I was kinda maimed, cause… No, we solve their problems, and move onto mine."_

 _Andre raced up the stairs, two at a time, running to where he knew the girls room was. He got there to find Jade with her suitcases pulled out. "Whoa there, I get that sometimes, you need time, but this is dumb. You and Tori, you love each other so much, You can't let things end like this."_

" _I don't now what to do." Jade admitted. "I try, but all I know how to do is help he fulfill her wishes, and that requires me to work. A lot."_

" _And you'll find a way to change that." Andre said. "I get that you wanna be hands on with all your projects. But maybe you need to be just a touch more hands off. Your production company grew so much, in such a short time, I suspect maybe you allowed this to be what came between you. Tell you what. I have a suggestion, something that'll help you out, make the whole process easier for you."_

" _You're changing careers, becoming a manny?" Jade asked, a scary hope in her eyes._

" _Close, but so far away." Andre said, stepping back in case her dashed hope turned to rage. "I'm gonna get you to hire a project manager with the right kinds of experience, who'll help you run things."_

" _You know someone like that?" Jade scoffed._

" _We both do." Andre said. "Robbie. Hire his ass away from HBO, and you'll get a good auxiliary producer you can trust, who's almost as terrified of you as I am, and who'll take on some of that load you're putting on yourself."_

" _But the investors, they want the hands on." Jade tried._

" _No, they want the magic that being one of your projects gives." Andre said. "But get this now. And I mean listen and remember. Thing is, sooner or later, one, or more, of your projects is gonna flop. Just gonna happen. And some of your backers, they'll rabbit. But you, you have a reputation, and an empire being built. With your contracts with Learning Live, the studio, and everywhere else, you're gonna be making a lot of money for a lot of people, probably for as long as you wanna be doing that. You'll be loved. So stop worrying, and enjoy the new. Call Robbie now, while I try to convince Tori to come back and talk this out."_

" _She can have the au pair with the big pair, just as long as she pretends to love me." Jade said, sighing. Again, Andre wondered why Jade wasn't willing to talk that out, instead just assuming she was going to lose Tori somehow._

' _As I said, jealous, just without the outward rage. When did it all go inward?' Andre thought as he cleared his thought. "This fights about a lot of shit, but I'm thinking it's all little." He said, getting his bearings. "No, this is about he adjustments your both making to your lives. Tell your respective counselors, and get marriage counseling."_

" _Why not, I hear it's the rage now." Jade said._

" _But first, lets make that call..." Dre suggested, pushing for something, anything that would feel like progress towards fixing the couple._

 _Andre sat there, in the bedroom, talking to Jade, helping her call Robbie, make the offer, then call HBO and start making a deal to buy out his contract. They were almost done, despite the late hour, when Tori walked in the door. "SOMEONE HAD BETTER HELP ME GET ALL THIS BABY CHIZ INTO THE HOUSE!" She screamed._

 _Dre raced downstairs, to find Tori struggling with a heavy bag of stuff, while trying to carry Tawney, in her child's seat, into the house. He moved to take the bag. "NO, this is Jade's job."_

" _Jade's thinking you wanna break up." Andre said. "Look, I came here because I have a problem of my own, needed my best friend to help solve it. So maybe, you and Jade can work shit out…"_

" _That'll be a dollar." Tori said, her voice suddenly cold and professional, but still tinged with rage._

" _What now?" Andre asked._

" _I bought a container and set up a swear jar. Gonna pay for Tawney's collage with that." Tori explained. Her eyes, however, drifted up tot he stairs, drawn t the movement._

 _Jade was walking down the stairs, suitcase being dragged behind her. "Really? A swear jar?" She said._

" _You'd better be using that to carry laundry, cause this fights just getting started." Tori seethed. "And if I want you out of the house, I'll throw your ass out. Now..."_

" _YOU DON'T…!" Jade started to roar, only to have Andre shush her, holding up the car seat._

" _No yelling." He said. "She's asleep."_

 _Jade looked at him, confused. "Tawney..?" Anger diverted, she seemed weak in the presence of her child._

" _I figured out whats going on." Andre announced. "The reason Tori wants to be totally hands on, while you're afraid of being replaced, and get this, you two really aren't that far apart now. Tori, in addition to your show, the movies you've worked on, you've been singing, supporting the album you made while pregnant, right?"_

" _So?" Tori asked. "Yea, I've been busy, but..."_

" _And you take Tawney with you, right?" He continued._

" _I'm the fucking milk factory." Tori said. Then, she hesitated, glaring at Jade. "I'm stating a tab. I've bought a big, round, clear container, and right now, we both owe a dollar."_

" _No distractions." Andre said. Then to Jade. "And to clarify, I owe the dollar. But anyways, the problem is, Jade's like her father," He paled, looking at the goth, "In-that-you-wanna-provide..." He took a deep breath. "In that you wanna provide for your family, and somehow believe thats all you need to do sometimes."_

 _Jade growled, but stayed silent. Dre could tell he'd struck a nerve, while still being too close for comfort. Tori, for her part, was shaking with rage. But Andre pushed on. "So, the way I'm seeing it, you both need to take a step back. Jade, you're hiring Robbie, who'll reduce your load. Tori, you wanna be around your wife and kid more, and thats the right thing to do. But the very first thing you need to acknowledge is that you both love each other, and in addition to the stresses of your careers, the new baby, you've forgotten to take the time to be with each other." He smiled. "I'm right, aren't I?"_

" _Still wazzed here." Tori huffed. "And Jade, you so owe a dollar for the jar. Not sure why, but you probably owe twenty."_

" _That jar, it's for the house, or our entire lives, cause I need an exception for my office." Jade said, still looking stunned. Her eyes drifted to the baby, so soundly asleep. Tawney looked like an angel._

 _Tori sighed. "And my second album won't get made if I have to make everyone pay for their language, so yea, the house, or around our children."_

" _See, everyone's calmer now." Andre said. "And we can find some common ground." He smiled, only for it to turn sour. 'Now for my business.' He decided. "So, who the holy, fu...dge, fudge, who the fudge sent that blond psycho after me?"_

 _Jade looked peeved, again. "Are you blaming..." Her ire was rising._

" _I did it." Tori said, following with an evil laugh. "Turns out that Sam's been in contact with Cat for years, and finally dropped by to find out why she moved, and to apologize for taking off like she did. Old friends, lots of issues. And get this...Apparently, after Carly had Freddie's kid, Sam felt like a third wheel. Recently, she'd been working locally, and Cat wanted to maybe mend bridges. Besides, Cat said she owed you that, for being closed minded."_

" _So you sent her after me why?" Andre asked._

" _You're my songwriting partner, and a successful music producer, so you have some money." Tori ticked off on her finger. "And I still owed you for two years ago. Besides, I have a kid, and Beck has a kid, Trina has a kid, hell, my stepmother wants one, and I'm afraid my mother is gonna have one with her lover. You and Robbie are the odd guys out, and at least with Robbie, it Courtney who's making that decision. Or maybe she's pregnant, and we don't know yet. Who knows. Al I know is Sam wants a baby, and for the good of the female population, as well as our friendship, you're about to be a daddy."_

 _Jade applauded. "See that Tawney, sweety, your mamma is rubbing off on your mommy." She cooed to the baby._

" _Now, Dre, since your not yet ready to face your future, who I understand had a killer body, you're gonna do us a solid." Tori said. She was walking into their kitchen area._

" _I'm not sure you should be so calm." Andre said to Jade, who had started bouncing the car seat. "She may be calmer, but I think you two still have issues to talk out."_

" _Oh, we do." Tori said, returning with a large plastic container, looking like a plastic version of a large jar, maybe eighteen inches tall by eight inches diameter. (46 centimeters tall by twenty centimeters diameter.) "But first, I need to settle up. Jade, I've put a dollar in already. Dre, you can put yours in next, but yea, I'm still wazzed, and I needed you both to see this." She pulled out a twenty. "Time to take advantage of both you being present, and my frustration, and have me some angry sex. Dre, your babysitting, so clean your mind. And Jade, see the money? This should cover my part of the swearing." She put it in the jar._

" _Damn, if we're counting sex, you're putting her through private school, k through graduate school." Jade joked. "Wait, your serious about the sex? We need to talk this chiz out."_

" _And we will, with a counselor, in the morning." Tori said. "Or maybe tonight, between sessions."_

" _Sessions?" Andre asked. 'This is not how I envisioned things going...'_

" _Hold it." Jade said, dashing into her study. She emerged a moment later with a fifty. "Lets hope this coves tonight..."_

 _While she tossed it in the jar, Tori smiled. 'Been a while, but that ass is mine.." She mumbled, mostly to herself, but Andre understood._

 _The two headed upstairs, while Dre took Tawney into the downstairs playroom, which could double as a nursery. "I had to help, didn't I?" He asked, a smile on his face. "Yea, things are going great now. They just needed to adjust to being successful. Lots of people never figure that chiz out." He saw a mirror, and pulled out his cell phone, to capture that moment as a reminder that sometimes, helping has a price._

'Sometimes, I think that swear jar is gonna bankrupt us. Okay, never close to bankrupt, but it held it's share of IOU's. I mean, we both swear, so much. And we've had to empty that thing, how many times?' Jade chuckled at the thought.

'But yea, we talked it out, talked to our shrinks, even got us some couples counseling. We also adjusted our schedules and everything. Promised the two chizzing week rule, and lived by it ever since. Rob, turns out he's an incredible help, keeping my projects under control, a good surrogate to send in my place when I have too much going on, and he understands my vision far better then I'd have ever thought. Somehow, he's become my number two in the company. Who'd have thought, huh?'

The next picture she looked at was of Cat, thin and happy and siting in an office with her feet up on the desk. 'Of course, we all continued to change, grow, even if it's just barely noticeable. Like you, Cat. I mean, you really did it, didn't you? You showed us all how smart you really are.'

 _Cat was sitting in the office, smiling at_ _the room full of people, many of them_ _friends._ _They were the people she'd worked with at Learning Live for the past several years, producers and important production people, as well as a couple of the talent. Tori sat near by, excited by the prospects of having Cat In this new job. Cat had taken over as executive producer of Learning_ _L_ _ive, and was having her first production meeting about the many shows they were making. Specifically, she had one show to talk about, her_ s.

" _Okay, Doctor Science has run it's course, but that doesn't mean this is the end. People, we have half a dozen shows in rotation now, and all of them are making money. The animated shows look to last, years, and we have great tie in's for toys and other alternative revenue streams. So relax. I'm running things now. Learning Live trusts me to run things my way, and I'm gonna do my best. We're gonna do awesome. So yea, Doctor Science will have to go, live only in reruns and on demand playing, DVD's and blue rays, and whatever other medium they choose to preserve the old episodes with. We have a constant supply of new shit now that I'm in charge of making content. And those new shows, they'll have no end of potential talent to fill them out. Not now, now after they realizes how this can work. Actors and producers and creators and writers will all see that children's education can be a road to the mainstream, Cause Tori here is a big name now, and she's moved on to making music, and movies, and who knows what else. They'll see that it can happen. They'll see that doing children's television, or children's music, or what have you, won't lock them out of the business. They'll see it's just one facet of a larger career, one that can give them a chance to perform. We just have to say good bye to Tori, cause she is moving on to the rest of her career."_

" _It's not that I don't love it here at Learning live." Tori said, smiling at the producers and other high end members of the company "I really do. But I'm swamped. My wife and I make as much time as we can for each other, but thats not easy now that I'm officially off the blacklist. I have movies to make, music to sing, my songwriting partner has his own band making money now, so I help him write his own music on top of my own. All of that takes a lot of planning, takes up a lot of time. I'm sorry, I need to make more room for my family." Tori gave Cat her best smile. "We're family entertainment, and I have a family now. I mean, we should have just recast..."_

" _No." Cat said, cutting her off. "It's not that I feel I'm irreplaceable. I just feel that sometimes, the main character should be someone you relate to. Doctor Science was popular because I was so relatable to children. In many ways, I was still one. But now, we've moved on, and they have their new science shows that are more, um, animated. I love the animated shows. Music and animation and I'm executive producing three of those."_

" _But the point Cat was trying to make was, my loving wife, Jade West, she's cast people from our shows in the past. Since we're still attached to Learning Live, me and her and her production company, you'll have a lot of people wanting to impress the creator of Broken Girl productions. That means you don't have to worry so much about finding high quality actors to portray your next live action characters." Tori explained to the others, not wanting to get too dragged off into her friends and families personal issues._

" _That, plus Beck is willing to work for scale." Cat added. "I'm so excited about his show, the Great American Classroom, where he plays Mister Oliver, America's Teacher."_

" _Produced by Broken Girl studio's, in cooperation with Learning Live, it's set to be the next great multi-platform educational program. We'll have the show, additional content on line, as well as interactive aspects to the on line, and whatever other support we can come up with." Cat's assistant filled in, going over notes she didn't totally understand about the newer, more interactive platforms they were experimenting with. "I'm just amazed that Van Cleef technologies was willing to help come up with the platform, and many of the games."_

" _Sinjin is my brother in law." Tori said. "This whole thing is a family project, for our children."_

 _Cat smiled, placing a hand on her belly. She was only thee months in, not showing just yet. "For Becky, and Franklin," she said, before her voice hardened a touch, "Who needs a cousin around his age."_

" _I'll let Jade know." Tori said. "Just, there's something she wants to know, and I kinda promised…" She felt nervous, cause this wasn't the place, or time._

" _I suspect I know what this is, but why don't you go ahead and ask?" Cat said, smiling a forced smile. 'Might as well do this here, cause the producers need to know the kinds of people who create the best children's entertainment.' She thought._

" _Well, I hate to bring this up here..." Tori started, a little nervous. Cat gave her most reassuring nod. "Okay, I do kinda need to know, cause the police asked us..." She hesitated. "Um, Cat, you know we love you, and appreciate everything you've done for us, but..."_

 _Cat sighed. "Yes, I sent the cheer squad to the Carsons office. I wanted to let them know what they could do with their blackballing." She gave a big smile. ""The Carsons, not the cheer squad. Lovely girls, and guys, from Nothrridge Community collage. Did great. Go fighting Saint Bernards." Cat smiled. "You remember them, right?" She said right at Tori. "Different dog now." She frowned at Tori's disapproving look. "Hay, I checked with my lawyer first, so we had everything we needed to do that legally. Couldn't moon them like I wanted, but the cheers sufficed. Just had to be public, so they'd know we were getting them, and I could make sure it was legal. Naturally, my lawyers got the permits to gather, hold a public rally. All legal, thus no one is putting money in your fucking swear jar. Best part, Nothing the Carsons could do about it." Cat's smile was far less innocent, or forced. "Besides, Jade wasn't doing anything about them."_

" _She wrote a whole movie spoofing them." Tori protested. "A comedy horror film, with zombies and scantly clad women, and the hero who couldn't save the world, cause she'd been blackballed by the Barsons."_

" _I haven't seen that one yet." Cat said. "Whats it called?"_

" _Apocalypse delayed." Tori said. "It's in post production."_

" _What part do you play?" Cat asked._

" _The heroin, forced to train others to fight the forces of evil, until I get taken off the blacklist and allowed to do what I did better then anyone else." Tori smiled._

" _Sleep with the director?" Someone said._

" _GUYS!" Cat screeched. "You know I'm the only one allowed to make jokes about that." She calmed down a touch. ""Besides, with that synopsis, Tori may well have directed it."_

" _No, Jade directed it personally." Tori insisted, hurt that her friend would tease her on one of her weak areas in entertainment. Tori could write, but her stories tended to be too far out to be entertaining. Usually she wound up just confusing her audience. Jade, however, was far better, even, it seemed, with parody. "She wrote it, just for me, and then got the Science Fiction channel to pay for it, producing it through Broken Girl." Tori sighed. Then, in a slightly confused tone, continued. "Unfortunately, I think for someone, but like so many of my girls projects, it's getting a general release, cause it's actually pretty good. I guess the Science Fiction channel is gonna have to make do with the bucket loads of money they stand to make over this film, assuming it doesn't die opening weekend.."_

 _Cat smiled at her friend. "And thats why having Jade attached to Learning Live, even tangentially, guarantees us talent who will be willing to start here, for scale, to earn some street cred on their acting or writing or whatever abilities."_

" _I thought we got Mister Olive because he was sleeping with..." The production assistant froze, aware that they were gossiping about their big boss right in front of her._

" _No, that just makes things more convenient for me." Cat said. "Beck wants to make a difference, and has all the money he needs coming in. No, he wants a challenge, and this is part of it for him. Making The Great American Classroom. And, I should point out, that while Tori here is ending her contract with us, she's our, Beck and my, friend. I'm sure she'll be making appearances as she can." Cat smiled. "No, the get will be having Jade make an appearance. Tori, work on it. Use every tool in your belt, but get Jade to make an appearance."_

" _I'll ask her." Tori insisted._

" _Use other tactics." Cat argued._

" _Do you want her in the show, or do you want me and her to have another child?" Tori asked._

" _Both." Cat said, showing she'd adapted to managing others. "But the baby is kinda the priority." Cat relented._

" _Don't worry." Tori smiled, whispering in her friends ear. "I want her to do this too. Let me think, plan things out. I suspect I can get her on board, maybe, for an appearance or two..."._

Jade smiled. She hadn't been at that meeting, less then eight months ago, but she'd heard all about it. 'Yea, had to make a couple of appearances on Beck's show, in return for what Tori agreed to do for me. But it was worth it. I got to work with the people who'd been working with Tori for the last couple of years, find out who they really were.'

She looked at a picture on her desk, of her and Beck in front of his crew. His class didn't have actors playing kids, relying upon interaction and the occasional video request to fill in that roll. So he'd taken to calling his crew his class, since when he was reading his prepared lectures, they were the ones paying attention. Jade couldn't help but grin at the genuine smile on her face. 'Tori, you made so many amazing friends there. And got me all involved with them. Learning Live's been one of my strongest allies, helping me move forward, escape the horror genre, grow to be the complete filmmaker I was meant to be.'

'But it's not just me, is it, baby?' Jade continued, glancing over the many pictures. 'Andre's still in his band, plugging away, but making most of his music as a producer and songwriter. I'm glad he and Tori were able to take their combined life experiences and make music based on that, cause the bubblegum music she was making, not sure I'd ever want that near me. Plus, as much as he hates to admit it, Andre's been a big help, writing basic melodies for Learning Live. Boys got a life now, with a child, thanks to Sam. Not sue their ever gonna get married. Cohabiting seems to be the limit for them both. But they have Carlotta, Carly, their daughter, and who knows, maybe they'll have another kid? Proof that sometimes, you don't need to be married to be monogamous.'

She glanced at the next picture. 'Robbie, you're a dad now. Of course, Courtney was probably the last of us to get pregnant, but hay, no one is judging here. Besides, Regina's such a darling little things. I just know she's gonna grow up to live that name. But I can't hate. Not when you've become my strong right hand, helping me make movies, keeping my various projects on track, and building me a relationship with HBO, as well as the other big time streamers and cable channels. You more then earn those big fat paychecks you get. Just, never forget I'm in charge, and that your scared of me, and we'll continue to have a great relationship.'

'Of course, Beck's doing great, despite being with Cat. Girl has grown a lot, made herself much more of a wife, but refuses the title. She says she wants her freedom to choose, should something better then Beck come along. Like she'll ever find better then Beck.' Jade smirked, glancing at her framed picture of Tori for a moment. 'I did, but it wasn't easy. But the classroom, the show, it's given Beck a whole new energy. He, we still make movies, but he does so during his down time from filming his show. He loves it, and the name it's making for him. He's got an even bigger reputation then Cat ever did, goes on talk shows, talking about education, science and language and all that kind of chiz. He does everything he can for that show, for his family, for Cat. Who would have guessed that doing en educational show would make him a mega star. He love it, which is good, cause it lets him allow others, more strict, more capable, to help rein in his children. He's too laid back to have kids sometimes. But he's learning. Like he says in his show, we're all always learning, growing.'

Another few pictures threaten to take her to strange memories she's not yet ready to process. Instead, the filmmaker takes a moment to look at a couple of the new additions to their family. 'Yea, everyone's doing great now. Normal ups and downs, but we're making he impact we were told we would, back at Hollywood Arts. Man, I so owe Sikowitz. But we're making it. Hell, even Micheal, and Allen, have found their share of success.'

Jade found a picture of the Oliver-Valentine Family, smiling at the additions on the end. 'Allen never wanted to be much more then part of Beck's entourage. Guy went through a lot in his pre Beck days, bad times he never really speaks about. We have us a sort of understanding, cause Tori and me, mostly me, we get him. But Allen, he never once wants to go back to who he was, and was dependent on Beck to make sure he didn't make any new bad decisions. Beck eventually found himself a long term servant, slash "manny" slash what have you, in the guy. Lots of trust there. However, it was Cat who forced the boy to find himself a girl, have some happy. Never did find out how they got together, other then Cat set them up, and Tasha, his now wife, she was working for Cat, as one of her assistants. Proximity, shared misery over Cat still shaking some of that crazy, that had to help them bond. But deep down, I suspect Cat knew what she was doing, found two souls that, while not that similar on the surface, just fit together. They just work together, and it gave Allen something more for this life then just is job. I guess thats what they say about whole families in service, like the old British butlers and chiz. But hay, it works for them, and I'm happy. I'm happy for Allen, for Tasha, for the whole family. And now, cause of her new position in the family, Tasha's Cat's at home assistant, not to be confused with her work assistants. Strange as it sounds, thats a lot less crazy to work with. Good for her.'

The next picture was of her own one time assistant. "Mike, we're at you already? Man, the lengths I'll go through not to think about my family. But hay, you've been good for me. Kept me focused at times when I needed to have some direction, as the world pretended to get better, only to show the cracks I never noticed in my walls. Yea, you had to deal with my levels of crazy, and my insistence on keeping several sharp pairs of scissors in my office. Hell, you had to deal with me and Tori having hot tub parties where we needed someone to go get chiz, at all kinds of odd late night hours, and then bring it to us WITHOUT looking. But you put up with all of that, like a trouper, and now…. now you're an associate producer.'

Jade smiled at the picture on her desk, of when she gave Mike his office. 'You work for me as an associate producer, and I taught you well. Boy learned from me how to handle the structured insanity that is Hollywood, how to do his job, work with people, get what we need where we need it, and in general do what an assistant producer does, which is act as my surrogate on set or at the second unit while I'm busy doing my job. Took a couple of years, but he's showing me he can be trusted. I may let him move up to producer, under my umbrella, for one of our smaller budget films. That is, assuming his wife's okay with him traveling a bit.'

Jade glanced at the next picture she had of Mike, standing next to an attractive Afro-american girl. "Ah, Mike, you found yourself a good girl, didn't you? Some chick you went to school with, back in the day, right? Lisa looks like a good catch, and she seems okay to be around. Kinda sweet too. I remember their marriage. He actually wanted time of work to attend. Like I wasn't gonna give him the time off. I just had to yank his chains a bit, remind him that the occupation he wants isn't easy to get into. But he's married now, expecting his first child, soon. And me, I couldn't be prouder. Like Beck, and Cat, I'm finding it's one of my joys in life to help some people, a select few who need a boost, or a second chance, or sometimes just a first chance, to find their way in life. Man, has it really only been five years sine I let my old, high school friends back into my life?"

Her smile faded as she found herself looking at the picture she'd been avoiding. Even more so then the sad memories, she found this one to be hard to process. On the surface, it looked harmless enough, her and her siblings, from her dad's multiple marriages, all gathered in front of a sign that said "Dingoland." Her eyes focused on one person. 'You really were the last to let me know you, weren't you, junior?'

 _It was a day Jade had worked literally a year to make happen, even going so far as to pay for everyone's admission to the park. Jade knew most of them by then, having had spent time getting to know each of her siblings, save one, and she wanted to correct that. 'Also, Tori so wants to make my dad like her. Approve of her. What is wrong with her. He doesn't really approve of me. Me! So why would he ever approve of who I marry?' Jade thought as she watched the kids playing around her. 'Shouldn't really call them kids now, should I? Many are almost grown up. But this is the place for them. More rides, more attractions, and no lame ass mascots to muck things up. Just wish they didn't insist on calling this place the sickest place on earth. Yea, it's for older teens, but sick is so yesterday. No, they should just have called it the biggest ripoff of that other amusement park, and left it there.'_

 _Jade glanced around her family, resting as they debated where to go next. 'Well, some are debating. It feels like others just don't care...' Her eyes locked on the subject of her intent for that day, her oldest brother, Stanley._

 _Stan Junior came with his girlfriend, Peggy, leaving his mother, Tabatha, at home. It was for the best, Stan barely wanted to spend that much time around his father. It was only the promise of two free tickets to the park that drew him, and his girl, out that day. "So, Stanley..." Jade tried to make conversation with the twenty three year old boy._

" _Junior." The boy said. "I went by Deuce for a bit, but that was too, I don't know, it drew a lot of bathroom humor."_

" _Well, Junior, what did you study in school?" Jade tried. She'd been in contact with him, and the others, but the boy had been distant. Apparently his mother, a friend of the family from back when their dad was married to Jade's mother, expected the same level of devotion Katheryn had received. Her dad's cheating on her with his secretary left her very wounded, angry, disillusioned, and in general unable to trust. At least not men who weren't her child. Her son was lucky in that, while she took out some of her frustration on him, it was just verbal abuse, and fairly quickly, she realized her mistake. From that point on, from what Jade could tell, Tabatha West made it her mission that her boy would be as little like his father as possible. It had made her, and him, distant, untrusting of anyone named West. Jade had seen, in order to succeed in her mission, Tabatha eventually discovered that she'd have to have the boy see a therapist, to deal with the overflow of her own issues. That led to other healing, and in turn, in his later years, towards supervised visits with his father. Jade had worked hard to earn what little trust he offered. It felt as if they thought somehow, being in touch with the other children born of their fathers line would corrupt him, make him less then the man he was trying to be._

" _Business." Junior said. "With a focus on accounting, cause everyone needs accountants." The boy eyed Jade. "You realize, I work for Molden Brothers, right? We manage your profile, do your taxes."_

" _I didn't know that." Jade said. "You like accounting?"_

" _I like numbers." He said. "Numbers don't change. They're reliable. I can count on any equation I run coming out the same, every time. The rest, it's just knowing the rules." He gave his girlfriend a half squeeze._

" _What about you?" Jade asked her, remembering her name by the smallest of margins._

 _Junior smiled, answering for the apparently shy girl. "Peggy here is continuing her education, gonna be a lawyer, specializing in Tax Law."_

 _The shy girl, attractive, but pale compared to the beauties around her, mumbled something like "Family business." And left it at that. However, the implications were fairly obvious.._

" _So, Junior, not that it's any of my businesses, but are you with her because she's related to your bosses, because she's gonna be an attorney, or because she's, um..." Tori searched for words._

" _I'm with her because she's smart, pretty, and with a bit of encouragement from me, is gonna be more then her parents ever thought she'd be." The West boy snapped. "I'm not my dad, not looking for compliant. I just know what it's like to have someone put that much pressure on you. Only difference was, with her, it was all about her looks. And thats why she's with me. The looks are secondary to the relationship we've built."_

" _I'm pulling for you." Jade said, not getting offended at his tone. 'He means well.'_

" _Isn't this where you tell me you've had it rough too?" Junior asked. He almost stepped back at the raised eyebrow he received, and the momentary look into the eyes of a survivor. Even he could tell there was a lot more to her then she was admitting. "N-never mind..."_

"I'd say I'm over it, but I'm not." Jade growled. "Every so often, it sticks it's ugly head up again, and I get a whole new taste of that old pain. But I'm not letting it stop me, using my creativity to work my way through it. But no, I didn't tell you that, cause it doesn't matter. My experiences are my own, and they really don't matter to you right now. I… I just want to know my brother..."

 _Tawney, twenty eight months old, cooed, and drew Jade's attention to where she was being played with by two teenage girls with dark hair and blue eyes. Tori stood by, watching, as the girls played with the baby. Rachael, seventeen, and her sister Monica, fifteen, both had a lot of their sisters looks, to the point where half the boys in the park had peeked over to take a good look. Carol, their mother, believed in a more normal home, so had included Stan in their lives. They were, if anything, remarkably normal, given how pretty they were, their family situation, and their mothers short string of boyfriends before Carol had landed a D list celebrity. Rodger, her husband, was well past his prime, sterile from his drug use, and "Retired" into family life. With Jade a part of the girls lives for the last four and a half years, plus Rodger, who's barely there sex drive inclined him to parent a lot more then anything else, the girls had a lot of parental figures they could rely upon. They also had multiple warnings of the dangers of Hollywood. Maybe Rodger taught them to sing, but he wasn't interested in them doing anything they didn't want to. No, the girls were so tangibly normal, despite the circle of weird that constantly surrounded them, it almost hurt._

 _The closest to tragedy they'd come was when Monica's best friend was inappropriately touched by an adult, some guy who knew her father. Monica had realized something was wrong, and tried to be there for the girl. That caused the friend to confided in Monica, and the West girl was forced to figure out what to do about it. She was thirteen at the time, no where near ready for the whole process of dealing with abuse. She was, however, lucky she had the adults in her life she did. Jade, Rodger, Detective David Vega, and a few others had worked together to gather evidence and arrest the man responsible, and got therapy for both Monica and her friend. But the event showed that the girls had learned from their talks with Jade how to see the signs of abuse, and the family had reacted, pulling together. Even Stan, who didn't know if the man had touched his daughter, wanted to beat the guy down. And at the arrest, Jade was held at a distance by Gary while David walked the perpetrator out in cuffs. The sudden look of fear on the molesters face let her know David had said something. Later, she found out that the detective told that piece of scum that he and his partner were there to protect him from Jade, and they were bringing in backup, just in case._

 _However, at that moment, the two young girls were busy playing with Tawney, enjoying themselves, taking turns going on rides, playing games, flirting with the boys, or whatever. Especially playing with their niece. "I do wish I'd gotten to know them a bit more." Junior broke the silence._

" _Not too late." Jade replied. "You could go over and talk to them, just say high, ask about their interests, that kind of chiz. Or, maybe, we could talk to their mother about a more formal visit, away from all the distractions this park offers."_

 _Carol, the girls mother, was over talking with Stan senior, along with the last members of their troop. Next to Stanley West, on his left, stood Chona, his Filipino mail order bride who'd been surprisingly supportive of him. Stan had accepted that he wasn't going to succeed just by trying again, and had agreed to marry a woman who didn't want any children of her own. They were as happy as could be expected. For them, marriage seemed more like a business arrangement, with him probably still cheating, and her forgiving those moments as long as he came home and tried to be a supportive husband._

 _Carols was on the far left, talking with her husband, but not too close. She seemed strangely at ease around him. "How can they stand to be so close to him? I mean, he cheated on all of them, right?"_

" _It seems my dad's easier to deal with if your not emotionally invested." Jade speculated, eyes narrowing at Chona. "I wonder, what does she do to get back at him?" Both let that question drop._

 _On Mister Wests right, Holly stood talking about something or another. Simply put, Stan had come to respect Holly for taking Stacy from him. Initial hurt and anger dulled with the argument that he'd driven the woman away from himself, with his cheating and treating her like a possession, before Holly had made her move. She also argued that, despite the fact that being in a relationship with Stacy, while oddly fulfilling, was an uncomfortable transition for Holly, she'd stuck it out. Out of spite, Tori's mother had turned his own arguments about sticking with things against him, made her current relationship work, and was now somehow Stan's friend as the only member of Tori's family he believed understood his view of the world. It went so far as when Stan's partner was arrested for fraud, he'd encouraged Holly to get her insurance license and take over that part of the partnership._

 _Stacy took up the far right, not wanting to interact with her ex any more then necessary. However, just looking on her face, it was obvious that the transitions to being Holly's girl was far easier for her then Holly. Bryce, her child, would drag her away from time to time, to whatever attraction appealed to an eight year old boy. But Dingoland was or older children, teens, and adults. Bryce was restricted to the parts of the park meant for younger children. However, between the boy, her lover and her extended family from both marriages, Stacy seemed happy. "She wants another child." Jade said._

" _Who?" Junior asked._

" _Stacy." Jade filled in._

" _Stacy?" Junior repeated. "Thats gotta be fun for her, um, wife?"_

" _She's with Holly, and they're talking adoption." Jade said. "Unlike Tori, who's been talking artificial insemination. Again. Another in vitro baby. Only, this time, she wants me to carry."_

" _Are you?" Junior asked. "Going to carry?" He clarified._

" _Probably." Jade said with a sigh. "Tori wants another child, and I really can't deny her anything. Well, not this, at least. It's just, given who my parents were, I'm amazed anything could grow from my, un..."_

" _Yea, I get that." Junior said. "Look, I'm sorry for being so distant. But you have to understand, your the model we were all compared to."_

" _Really?" Jade asked. "I mean, yea, over the last six years, but before that?"_

" _Didn't say you were a role model." Junior said. "Just that, there were plenty of things you did that we never really could live up to. I had to hear, for years, how you were a straight A student. Then, I find out you went and did collage, all on your own. Made a movie. Made the fastest growing production company in years. Established yourself. Hell, I got my job partially because my names West, although in my defense, I think it's because they believe that the Kardashian's like guys named West."_

 _Jade chuckled. "Just, Family's important to Tori. Sometimes, I think she sent her mother to seduce Stacy, just to force my dad to be a part of this family.'_

" _She does crazy plans like that?" The boy asked._

" _Some time, I should tell you about the time she broke our acting teacher." Jade said, smirking. "She did all kinds of things to try and fix him, all without even knowing what was wrong with him. See, talking to him, finding out what really happened, or what he needed, that was a bit too much."_

" _Sounds like the master planner." Junior chuckled. "Any other stories?"_

" _Plenty." Jade said. "Lets start with Dale Squires. You remember him right?"_

" _Director, right?" Stanly Junior asked._

" _Yea, let me tell you how we had a hand in him meeting his wife, Kendra." Jade said, happy to finally be bonding with the one part of her fathers progeny she'd had trouble reaching._

Jade smiled, looking at the group photo of them all. It had been quite a day. 'Good news, Tori decided she wanted to be pregnant again. That is, in return for me agreeing to that Learning Live chiz I've been doing, appearing on Beck's show. But we're happy, and I've killed enough time. Now, it's time to go see if we can do better then we did at Dingoland, six months ago.'

'Mom, she's out of the picture, doesn't seem to care that we're practically strangers. But dad, he's dealing with Holly, not cheating with her, cause he treats her like a dude, but hes working with her, and thats makes him happy. Also, it puts him in my life, along with all his other kids. And lucky me, their all here.'

Jade closed up her computer, and made her way out to the glass structure that she called her pool house, where her family, almost all of them,. Had gathered for her and Tori's seven year wedding anniversary. 'Yea, time to make some new memories….'

:}

Tasha is from iCarly. She was Gibby's girlfriends, and according to the iCarly wiki, she was said to have self esteem issues. She was played by Emily Ratajkowski. Lisa was mikes girlfriend in Zoey 101. The others, no real person, just my imagination, except where there wasn't.

Lots to sift through here, so take your time. Just, let me know what you think, once you've bee through it all. Don't be afraid to take notes. You never know when you'll need them. Just, please, I hope you enjoyed this epilogue.

And review, case we have to ask. I think we're partly graded on how many reviews we get.


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